Fragile Flame
by DruidianKAII
Summary: This story starts at the end of HPDH. (ignores the '19 yrs later' with slight plot changes to HPDH) After the battle the trio pick their lives back up and begin to adjust to a world without Voldemort. Hermione returns to complete her final year of schooling with Ginny, but with the return of another Hogwarts student and some new information are they in for another wild year?
1. Chapter 1 Bitter Sweet

Chapter 1 ~ Bitter Sweet

disclaimer~ I do not own any of the Original characters in JK Rowling's wonderful universe, or her universe for that matter. I only claim any original character that may wind up entering her universe.

AN~ I do hope you enjoy my fiction. This is my first go at writing anything, and I do appreciate feedback, or constructive criticism. I don't expect this to be to everyones liking, bit I do hope you give it a fair chance and all reviews are welcome so I know how I'm doing. ^.^ thanks!

KAII

Bitter Sweet

The decent from the head masters office was somber and quiet. Unlike before the war, when you could feel the static and electricity in the air, it was now cold and as silent as a graveyard after midnight. Harry was deep in thought as Hermione, with silent tears sliding down her face, and Ron, with cold and blank eyes, followed a step behind him. All three of them walked down the few levels and stair cases on auto pilot not thinking of where they were headed, but all knowing what they were headed to do. The Death Stick, The Wand of Destiny must be returned before this could truly be over and settled for the three of them. This whole war had taken its toll on the three young adults physically, mentally, and emotionally. None of them had felt losses so great. In all their lives they never thought it would turn out as bitter sweet as it had.

The deaths of so many loved family members and close friends weighed heavy on their hearts and minds. It was a strange sensation knowing you were free… that no one was going to be constantly hunting you, your family, and friends down. But at what cost. Growing up they had heard of all the terrible things Voldemort had done and what his followers were capable of doing. Your family told you all of the stories about how much they lost, and about losing the people they loved the most. But it never really sinks in until it's you who's lost the ones you love most. When Harry had returned from that graveyard in their 4th year and announced Voldemort's return he and his two friends knew what they would have to do. They were very aware of what it may take to destroy the evil that was now upon them. They were willing to lay their lives down if it meant gaining freedom for their families. They were committed and dedicated to winning a new life for everyone close to them. They had finally succeeded, and only now did they truly know what it was like to win and lose at the same time. Bitter sweet.

"Harry… We're here." Hermione's voice cut through their silent thoughts. They could hear how hollow her words sounded, distant and echoing, but the castle grounds were so quiet it sounded as though she had shouted them. She walked up to Harry, placed a soft hand on his shoulder and looked up at him.

"Did you want our help?" She looked at his face as several emotions ran across it… nervous, scared, determined… Lost.

"Come on, we'll do it together then."

"Yeah mate, come on." Ron said quietly but encouragingly at the same time. Harry looked up and gave him a weak smile, which Ron returned. He could never have hoped for better friends in all his life. But here they were, right beside him, like he knew they always would be. Like he would always be to them, loyal to the end.

The three of them walked up to the marble tomb and stopped a few feet away from where Dumbledore's perfectly preserved body lay visible through a gaping crack down the middle of the lid to his casket. None of them moved any closer for a few moments while they gathered their composure. Finally Harry pulled from his cloak The Elder Wand. He looked at it for a few moments examining it. It was in perfect condition but was obviously well worn from years and years of use. Now it would finally be able to rest with the one person who truly deserved to rest in peace.

Harry turned to Ron and then to Hermione who both nodded their approval. Slowly Harry walked up the steps toward the marble casket. Finally he was looking down upon Dumbledore. So many memories flooded his mind, memories of all the times he looked to Dumbledore for advice and direction. He used to seek comfort in the man laying before him. Dumbledore was always there, always wise, always like a light in a dark place. He was like a grandfather to Harry in a way, giving him advice, even though sometimes it wasn't obvious at the time. But also letting him choose for himself what he was going to do, and letting him learn from his own mistakes.

He looked so peaceful, as if he were only taking a well needed nap, and would wake up at any moment, look up and him with those shocking blue eyes and smile his knowing smile. Harry's heart contracted painfully because this, he knew, would never happen. He supposed it was just wishful thinking. Harry took one last look at the Elder Wand, this was the right thing to do.

"Harry… I was thinking" Hermione said as she walked to his side. "Maybe this would be better. Just incase, you know?"

As she said this, she took out her wand and flicked it at the wand in Harry's outstretched hand. For half a second nothing happened, until he felt the wand begin to warm and watched as it transfigured into a beautiful white lily. Hermione always knew what to do. Harry looked at the flower, it was perfect in every way. No one would ever know what it actually was, he marveled at how brilliant she was.

"Thanks Hermione." He gave her a smile and squeezed her shoulder. "Alright, it's time." He turned to Dumbledore and laid the lily under his folded hands on his chest. He took one last look, then the three of them raised their wands. In only a few moments the casket and tomb were resealed and looked as though they had never been touched by anyone.

With what they came to do finished, the three of them turned away from the tomb and walked back to the castle. It was done, the war was over and won, they could finally live their lives as they each saw fit.

They were just entering the great hall when Harry stopped dead in his tracks making Hermione and Ron nearly run into him, Ron was the first to speak.

"Oi, mate, Give a man some warning would you?" He said in a half playful half irritated tone. "What's the idea?" He asked without looking up from straightening out his shirt.

Hermione however looked up immediately, startled at Harry's abrupt stop. She saw Harry's face and knew something was wrong. Following his line of sight she saw exactly what was wrong… Draco Malfoy was walking towards the far side of the hall, as they watched he slipped through a doorway at the back of the hall, unnoticed by any of the few people remaining in the room except for them.

"Malfoy" Harry practically growled the name as he started to walk across the hall towards the door Malfoy had just disappeared through.

"Harry wait! Wait up!" Harry was walking so fast that Hermione practically had to run to keep up. Ron on the other hand, had no problem keeping up considering his height and the length of his stride. They reached the door before she did, and she heard Harry speak first. "Malfoy! Where are you?"

As she rounded the corner into the room Ron spoke."Oi, Malfoy' get out here!"

She walked farther into the room, which looked to be used as a parlor room, any other time Hermione would have been excited to explore the room. But at the moment she was far to intent on the events that were unfolding before her.

"We saw you come in here Malfoy, now where are you?" Harry was half way into the room when, at last, Malfoy appeared.

"Calm down before you give yourself a stroke, Potter, I'm right here." Malfoy's voice was so cold and calm, if it hadn't been so full of venom, one may have thought him to be joking around with an old friend. Malfoy stepped around the corner of a banister that led up to another section of the room. He was wearing all black, as usual, and had his hair free of any product leaving it soft and resembling sheets of silver surrounding his face.

He looked, at first glance, to be very put together. However as Hermione, now standing behind Ron and Harry, took a closer look she could see his worn out expression. He had a dark reddish-purple hue all around his eyes as though he had been lacking a lot of sleep. His clothes were dirty, which for Malfoy was very unusual, and they had quite a few singe marks all across them. The once white blond hair was now ashen and streaked with soot in places. He had black ash across one side of his face directly on top of a bleeding cut that ran from his ear down to the middle of his cheek. He had obviously not been hiding like she figured he would have been, given his usual cowardice in the face of a challenge. According to her prior experience with Malfoy, he never entered into any fight or battle that looked even close to one he might loose. He could call it whatever he liked, but she knew it was because he was afraid to be hurt or shown-up by someone of a lower status than he considered worthy of his time.

"Well I haven't got all day, Potter. What do you want?"

"Shut it Malfoy! You've got enough to worry about without your attitude causing more fights."

Harry was obviously worn out and was not in the mood for any of Malfoy's cheek.

"Now you listen, and you listen good." Harry was now pointing a finger and jabbing it in Malfoy's direction with each exclamation.

"I don't know what part you've played in all of this but I've got a pretty good idea, and as soon as I figure it out and go to the Order about what you've been up to you're going to have the same end as your dear father, you understand."

Draco had looked slightly amused until Harry had mentioned Lucius. He instantly looked as if he could lunge at any moment. Hermione tightened her grip on her wand preparing for what she though was inevitable. But almost as soon as it had come the look was gone, replaced with his usual cold mask. Hermione was slightly confused by this but kept her want at the ready nonetheless.

"You must really think your special, don't you Potter, think you know all the answers. It's rather sad, really, how incompetent you actually are. Especially when you assume you've got any idea as to what I've been doing.

"If you really had even close to a clue about it we wouldn't be having this ridiculous conversation."

As Malfoy spoke, Hermione noticed a change in his body language. He started out sounding very condescending and full of vengeance. But as soon as he started speaking of the role he played and Harry's assumptions about him, Draco looked distant, almost as if he was talking mostly to himself. He looked hurt, or upset, maybe sad. Hermione couldn't figure it out exactly. The look in his eyes was so out of place as he stared off. Then he snapped his eyes back to Harry and Ron's faces.

"Just because you seem to have some sort of insane luck that has kept you alive through all of this, does not mean you know everything about what it actually took to get the whole job done Potter."

Harry looked so angry Hermione stepped back.

"Don't even try to weasel your way out of this one you slimy little ferret! You're the one who doesn't know what had to be done to destroy Voldemort. What we had to sacrifice to end this… What Dumbledore had to do to help our side, while you what? Hid in the shadows plotting how to get your sadistic aunt into this castle? Figured out to kill the only man who though you might still have some good left in you? Don't sit here and try to convince me that you're innocent! I'm no fool. I saw the whole thing the night he was killed. You'd been trying all year to kill him. First Katie, then Ron. I knew it was you all along. I even told Dumbledore what I knew after Katie, and he told me not to worry. You may not have cast the spell but you're just as guilty as any other Death Eater."

Harry was shaking with rage as he spat each sentence at Malfoy. Ron stayed quiet while Harry was speaking. He had his wand out in front of him, ready for any action, as did Hermione. Harry was so upset he finally was at a loss for words, which allowed for Malfoy's response to be heard.

Hermione couldn't believe her ears at first. Was Malfoy actually… laughing. She looked between Ron and Harry to see if her ears were indeed telling her the truth. She found Malfoy sitting on the stairs with his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. He was shaking his head back and forth and, yes, laughing. He sounded hollow. Almost defeated. Malfoy finally gazed up at them with an exasperated expression.

"Wow, Potter. You really have it all figured out don't you?"

He ran one hand through his ashen blonde hair and looked past the boys straight at Hermione whose pulse jumped into gear. She couldn't figure out why, but her breathing sped up in response to her heart as she looked into his steel blue eyes. She could almost feel the pain radiating out of them and was forced to break his penetrating gaze.

"Potter may be thick, but you, I would have thought you would have been smart enough to figure it out.'

Hermione was completely taken aback. She snapped her eyes back to his face and studied his expression. He sounded disappointed with her by his tone, but by the way he was looking at her he looked almost hopeful. Like he hopped she would remember some secret hints and puzzle them together to prove him innocent. She was so startled by his penetrating eyes that she forgot how to speak properly.

"I…Buhh…wha…" But before she could even get out a proper sentence, Ron cut across her stuttering.

"Don't you even talk to her! Don't even look at her. You have no right, you bloody git!"

Ron had raised his wand level with Draco's eyes, finally, he broke eye contact with Hermione allowing her breathing to return slowly to normal.

"I may speak to whomever I please, Weasley. You and your hot headed leader haven't a clue as to what I've really been 'up to,' as you put it," Draco snapped through gritted teeth.

But as soon as the harsh words had left his mouth his emotions were back in check once more.

"My actions over the last two years may have regrettably looked to be cold and calculated murder plots, but the three of you are functioning under the delusion that my actions were a product of the Dark Lord's wishes. This is where you've made your first mistake."

If Hermione were to guess, she would only be able to assume he was actually trying to be…nice. Each time he looked close to snapping he seemed to almost, in an instant, change his emotion back to being calm. She couldn't figure out why he was acting this way. He had never been one to pass up the chance to sling obscenities at any one of them. But here he was trying to be civil.

"What are you on about Malfoy?" Ron spat.

"More mind games I suspect," Harry sneered.

"Go on then, let's hear it since you're already feeding us your story. Let's see you snake your way out of practically being caught red-handed, shall we?"

Harry's tone was very sarcastic and condescending. Hermione knew Harry was only letting Malfoy continue so he could watch him squirm under pressure, since she was sure Harry expected Malfoy to be grasping at straws to explain himself.

Hermione studied Malfoy's features as Harry was speaking. Her breathing was back to normal but now she was trying to figure out exactly what that reaction was and more importantly, why she had it. She could see in his eyes that he was relieved that he could say what he had to say. But there was also worry and anger there too. She was secretly surprised at how well she seemed to be able to read Malfoy's emotions. But she gave credit to all the months she spent reading Harry and Ron's emotions while they were hunting Horcruxs. As he started to speak Hermione saw irritation in his expression.

"Look, Potter, I have no desire to continue fighting so there is no need for snarky comments."

Harry's face immediately changed from mocking to angry, but he kept quiet. Hermione watched Malfoy as he started talking again.

"That in mind, please listen - just hear me out."

He looked exhausted and his voice sounded very worn out. Both Ron and Harry made no movement to show that they would just listen, even though Malfoy paused to allow a response. Seeing their lack of a response, Malfoy continued his speech.

"Ok then, as I said before, everything you've witnessed me doing and or suspected that I've been 'up to' as you put it, has not been on the orders of the Dark Lord." Malfoy used air quotes to emphasize the 'up to' portion. Hermione laughed internally at Malfoy using air quotes. It looked completely out of the ordinary and almost comical coming from him.

At this Ron and Harry both snorted their disbelief but didn't continue any farther than that. Malfoy, slightly irritated at their outburst, clenched his jaw but said nothing in return. Hermione, if she was going to be honest with herself, was actually very impressed with Malfoy's ability to remain calm and not be snyde or snap at Ron and Harry's actions.

"I'm not going to lie to you, sixth year when I got to Hogwarts I did indeed have every intention of trying to find a way of killing Dumbledore. But that was only because the Dark Lord threatened to kill myself and my Mother. And while I may seem to be cold and heartless to everyone else, Potter, you can believe me when I say that above all else I do love my mother."

At this he looked directly at Harry.

"If it had been my father's life in question on the other hand, I may not have done what I did. I was, however, desperate to keep my mother alive. She was never out of his sight, I couldn't just act as though I was trying. I had to show attempts, give results, report to him. I tried not to let anyone on to who was behind the attempts… but Dumbledore knew what I was up to from day one. I knew the minute he gave our 'welcome' speech at the start of term. But I had to continued trying. My mother had no choice in this whole mess. She tried so hard to keep me from it but the Dark Lord sought me out. For years she begged and pleaded with my father to not follow the orders of a mad man, at the time I was so young I didn't know who she spoke of. However, as I got older I heard and understood more of what was going on.

"I always tried to please my father as a child… until my fifth year. That's when I realized my mother was right. I didn't want any part in this war. My father was the only reason we were forced into doing his bidding. He invited the Dark Lord into our home with open arms, as my mother begged him not to. My mother was forced to act as a servant to that foul evil creature. I could not bare to watch her in that situation. My mother deserved better. The Dark Lord saw how much his ordering my mother around bothered me. I couldn't hide my reactions because my feelings were too strong. That is when he decided to use her as his leverage over me. What was I supposed to do really? I never though anyone would help us, especially since my own father wouldn't. So I told him I'd do the job if he just left her alone. I didn't want him to touch her ever again. It was hard to try to kill a man that did not deserve to die.

"After my try with Katie, which was sloppy and very poorly executed out of desperation, he hauled me into his office. I had to look the man right in the eyes and lie to him about my attempt on his life and I knew he knew I was lying. But I had no choice, or so I thought. Dumbledore told me that he wanted to help me, that he would protect my family if I changed my allegiance and became an informant for your side. There he was, reaching out to me, and I just slapped his offer away thinking that I could handle the situation better than he ever could. After all I thought I knew what I was doing I knew how The Dark Lord would react if he read my thoughts and saw me making a deal with Dumbledore, I couldn't risk it. I had to do this on my own.

"After I poisoned the mead, that Slughorn was supposed to give to Dumbledore, and Weasley got poisoned instead I didn't know what to do anymore. I couldn't use the killing curse to do it. The cures would not have worked, I would have had to really want the person to die, and as much as I didn't like Dumbledore, I certainly didn't want him dead either."

Neither Ron nor Harry made a movement as Malfoy spilled out his story, apparently not sure what to believe. Malfoy ran a shaky hand through his hair and paused with his hand on the back of his head looking down at the empty space in front of him.

"It was the next day that altered the course of mine and my mother's lives. He came to me that night, in my dreams.

"He told me that since I had, thus far, been unsuccessful in my endeavor he had decided to make my task easier for me. He changed my task into finding a way to get my aunt and some Death Eaters into the castle, then after i got them into the castle they would back me up as I killed Dumbledore. And for my apparent inability to follow orders my mother would face the punishment that would have been mine. Not death, but a very severe beating, which…"

Malfoy's voice became softer and more shaky as each word left his mouth. As much as Hermione couldn't stand Malfoy, her heart was breaking for him. She had been watching his face as the muscles contracted and relaxed, his eyes and their deep truth… she knew in her heart of hearts that this was no lie. Malfoy let out a heavy breath

"Which he enforced as I was forced to watch but unable to do anything."

Malfoy sounded like a broken man as the sentence left his mouth.

"I watched curse after curse wrack her frail body as it gave in, screams, tears, but even that wasn't enough for him. He wanted blood, he struck her with the back of his hand as she tried to get off of the floor causing her nose and lip to purge her vibrant blood.

"And finally I was let lose, just as I was afraid to go… I was not sure i'd ever see her again, I didn't want to wake. I was screaming for her to move, but she just lay there. My panicked screaming woke me out of my sleep. I headed straight to the head master's office. I knew my plan was not working, I now understood that I needed help. If I was going to save my mother I needed help. I was desperate. I don't think I ever truly understood what people meant when they said 'just imagine if it was your family, what would you do then.' I always figured that I'd be what my father considered to be strong, and just not care.

"With my father it was always 'if The Dark Lord wishes it' and 'what The Dark Lord does is for the greater good, you must obey his orders'"

Malfoy gave a hollow, exasperated laugh.

"I cant believe I was so stupid to follow him so blindly. I just accepted it, no questions… what a fool."

He was now talking mostly to himself. He placed both hands over his face as he sat on the steps. He began to rub his hands over his closed eyes, then removed them and looked at Hermione. All she could see in his eyes was regret and extreme sorrow.

"I tried for years to be what my father wanted even when I did not agree. I was afraid to disappoint him, to be a disappointment to the Malfoy name, dishonor my family."

His eyes contracted with anger, but he remained calm.

"That was until I was forced to bare witness to my mothers torture, it was then that I realized the only person I was most afraid of losing, dishonoring, or disappointing was my mother and it would stop now.

"To my amazement, when I arrived at the headmasters chambers, he was awake and seemed to be waiting for me. It was slightly unnerving in a way."

Hermione smiled as she held Malfoy's gaze, she knew exactly what Malfoy meant. Dumbledore always just seemed to know.

"We had a very long and exhausting discussion, i'd never felt so exposed in all my life. But it felt comforting at the same time. Like some kind of weight had been lifted from my chest."

Malfoy sounded like he was in awe at the memory of that feeling.

"I told him of my situation, as I have just told you, as well as of the dream that had finally opened my eyes. As I expected he asked me to use veretasyrum to prove I was indeed telling him the truth. I knew he would ask, how could he not after I had been attempting to kill him for over half of the year."

He had a sad smile on his lips as though he were reliving the memory in his mind; not just telling a story.

"He explained to me that if I wanted his help I would have to do exactly as he asked. If he said to run and hide, I would. If he said I was to fight, I would. If he said to do anything at all, I would have to follow him without any hesitation. If I did this, I would have his word that he would keep my mother safe, I took it. I gave him my word to do anything he asked, if he just saved her. His first order was for Snape to teach me occlumency. I needed to perfect my skill in order to fool The Dark Lord. I, of course panicked. Snape was on The Dark Lords team after all. He would see what I was planning and rat me out to The Dark Lord, or so I thought. I was totally blown away at how well Snape had played his part, it was completely flawless. We were all fooled, every single one of us. I was astounded.

"I knew then that I had done the right thing, and that I was not alone. Both brought to the light by the love for someone very dear to us. I knew I could do this. I learned, and I learned well. I could block even Dumbledore's attempts at penetrating my mind. My next orders, however, confused me."

Malfoy wrinkled his brows and shook his head slightly as if he still couldn't believe the orders he was given.

"He told me to fix something, a vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement. He said that I was to fix the cabinet and let The Dark Lord know I had found a possible way for the death eaters to enter the castle, as were my orders. I was always brought up to not ask questions, but really, how could I not. It was not until after I had fixed the cabinet that Dumbledore and Snape finally told me what our plan of action was.

"So far it just seemed that I was supposed to act as if nothing had changed, that I was still a good little minion, and that his punishment had worked to keep me in line. After all I was now producing results, useable results. But I soon realized that my acting skills were going to have to jump from decent to excellent if I were going to help them pull off what they had planned.

"I had been working almost every waking minute I could spare to fix the cabinet, at the same time Snape would always be close by working on brewing various new potions and strange spells that I had never seen or heard of before. In all the time that we spent working in the same room I never once asked or suspected what they were trying to accomplish. I did not like their plan, how was he going to keep his word If he was dead, how could our side possibly win with him gone.

"I was extremely… Vocal… about my doubts and my unhappiness with their idea. But Snape explained to me that this had been their plan all along, only now having me with them made it much easier for them.

"Instead of me attempting to kill Dumbledore on my own and them having to try to work around me to make the whole thing run smoothly, without me messing it all up unknowingly, I would be acting as though I was going to kill him as a show for the Death Eaters to witness. During the part of my act where I was supposed to kill Dumbledore, Snape would appear and tell me to stop in front of all of them, that way it would look as though I were one hundred percent prepared to complete my part of the task, but I had been told by the Dark Lords trusted servant to stop. Snape would then deliver the killing curse in my stead.

"it was fool proof really. We would both look as though we had done exactly what the Dark Lord had asked of us. We'd be accepted back at the manor with no questions asked about our allegiances, and above all else my mother would be free of him.

"I had gotten to know the old man though… he really was a good person inside and out… acting as though I was not upset about his impending demise in front of the Death Eaters was very difficult. I used my being upset and blamed my emotions on being afraid for my own safety.

"But that was not the case, I didn't want the man that had helped me so much to die. But I had given my word, he had not failed me, I could not fail him. I told him I'd do anything he asked of me, and this was no acception to his rules.

"Dumbledore told me the date and time you two would be leaving. And I, in turn, was to tell the Dark Lord the same date for their arrival, the time would be determined by Dumbledore based on how long the two of you would take. He was to send me a message using this." As Malfoy spoke he held up a small gold coin which all three of them recognized at once, a DA coin.

"He told me when you were safe and headed to Hogsmead, that's when I would send for Bella and her lot. Once I got his message I let the Death Eaters through the cabinet. I immediately left before they were all the way through and headed straight to the tower where I was told to wait for the two of you to arrive. Once I heard you talking and he sent you to get Snape I was supposed to show up.

"He wanted us to act as if I were going to kill him, I was to tell him how id gotten the Death Eaters into the castle, I would disarm him as I spoke, and tell him that I had to kill him in order to save myself from death.

"He knew you would be listening to us and wanted you to think I was being forced to kill him by the Dark Lord. Shortly after, while I was giving my speech, the Death Eaters would arrive. After they were all there to bare witness to me having Dumbledore disarmed, seemingly helpless, I would act as though I were about to cast the curse.

"Just as I was inhaling before saying the words Snape would appear and stop me, then he would use the killing curse to end Dumbledore's life. These few very choreographed and precise moments would be enough to secure our place and our safety among the Dark Lord, and his most trusted disciples who were there to witness all of these events. None of them would have any doubt that we were on their side.

"Then of course he also left us with orders for after he was gone. My lying about your identity at the manor was not a stroke of luck, Potter. I was told to help you in any way I could without giving myself away to the Dark Lord. Those were my orders from Dumbledore. Snape was to return to Hogwarts and take the position of Headmaster in Dumbledore's stead. He was to convince the Dark Lord that he should go back to Hogwarts to make sure that the future of the wizarding world would be taught correctly from here on out. While at the school he was to try to keep the students as safe as possible without giving himself away.

"Both of us were to keep the order as informed about the Dark Lord, and his movements or decisions, as possible. I would relay any information that I had acquired from the Death Eaters straight to Snape, and he would decide what to do with it. Our correspondence went unnoticed, of course, because we were very skilled at occlumensy by this point and we also had the coins.

"Very handy work by the way Granger, saved us on more than one occation." Malfoy finished his story and was now twiddling the gold coin between his fingers.

Hermione was taken aback at his honest praise of her work, and truth be told she was a little proud too.

He looked relieved to Hermione, like some terrible burden had been lifted off of his shoulders. She could see it in his face and in his posture. He didn't look as broken and tired anymore. He looked more hopeful than he had through out the entire time he had been speaking. Hermione hadn't noticed how much time had passed by, but she could see the sky turning darker through one of the small windows above them.

There was a span of thick silence between all of them, so thick Hermione was surprised that she couldn't see it floating in the air. Ron looked confused about the whole series of events that had just been told by Malfoy. Hermione was more concerned about Harry's reaction though, Harry's face was not very readable.

It startled her to see an expression she hadn't seen in a very long time, and definitely not coming from Harry. He was looking at Malfoy as if he had sprouted a pair of antenna at first. Then he started to look more and more amused until he was almost laughing. Looking at Harry's almost hysterical display was worrying her, he had never acted this way… not that she could remember anyway.

Malfoy's face now looked confused as he watched Harry's reaction. Hermione was also confused as she looked at Ron who had the same puzzled expression that herself and Malfoy now adorned. She finally decided to speak.

"Harry what's so funny? Why are you laughing?

Harry turned to her with his hand outstretched, palm up, toward Malfoy, who was behind him "Can you believe this load of rubbish, listen to him! He actually thinks that anyone is going to believe he switched sides." He snorted his own disbelief.

"That's completely laughable! He's a Death Eater for Merlin's sake! He's wired to lie, its ingrained into his DNA. He's a natural' an expert at it!" Harry snorted again.

"Besides he's had a whole year to think up this whole ruse. And isn't it just so convenient that BOTH Dumbledore and Snape are now dead and can't defend or deny his claims!"

Ron was now slowly nodding his head as Harry's words sank in. "Yeah! How do we know your not just trying to save your own skin Malfoy? This does seem completely unbelievable, and really far fetched, even for you" Ron smirked.

"I mean, the Slytherin Prince, taking orders from the leader of the good side. Not likely. Who would ever believe that, that's just… ridiculous!"

Harry was nodding at Ron's words "Yeah, I mean you've never once made ANY attempt at being good, or helping anyone at all… for anything. You've always done what you could to save your own skin. Only helped someone if it was a way to help yourself. I bet this whole story is just that, a story. I doubt you or your mother ever were innocent in any of this. She was probably just as willing to follow Voldemort's orders as your stupid father."

Hermione wasn't expecting Malfoy's reaction. He moved so quickly, like wind through trees, Hermione hardly saw what happened before it was too late.

Harry was stumbling back towards her with his hand on his jaw. Ron had his wand pointed directly at Malfoy's chest, and Malfoy looked as though he could kill with his bare hands. He had completely foregone using his wand, turning instead to his fists for his retaliation. Hermione was stunned by how fast and agile he was, but she was mostly stunned because it seemed so… muggle of him.

"Don't you DARE sit here and think that you know a bloody thing about my mother and I, you ignorant fuck!" Hermione was shocked at his sudden outburst, he had been able to control himself so well up until then. She'd never seen such beautiful fury… he was practically shaking with rage over Harry's comment about his mother.

"You sit there, self-righteous and perfect, and have no idea of what danger we've put ourselves in to help your sorry ungrateful arse. You disgust me!"

Malfoy was spitting the words with such passion and malice that Harry could only stair shocked at Malfoy's completely unguarded behavior, no mask, no cool collected retorts, no calm calculated reaction… just unbridled fury.

"STOP! STOP IT! The both of you!" Hermione was scared, and in complete awe of Malfoy's anger and conviction. Shed never seen him so open, even if it was in rage. She had tears in her eyes and was now standing in front of Harry and Ron.

"Put your wand down Ron, stop it! Haven't we had enough fighting to last a life time!" She panned her eyes up to look into the steel blue orbs that were Malfoy's eyes.

"Please, I cant take any more fighting! Its over, its done…" She was almost sobbing now as she finally let the reality of that sentence sink in.

Malfoy held her gaze as she spoke, his eyes softened as they looked at her pleading expression. He gave her an almost unnoticeable nod and backed away from Ron's wand. She mouthed 'thank you' to no one in particular as Ron lowered his wand.

The silence returned as Hermione tried to get a grip on herself, while Ron and Harry walked to another part of the room to be farther from Malfoy she assumed. When she finally got her breathing mostly back to normal she spoke to Malfoy, a thought had occurred to her.

"Malfoy…?" He looked up from where he had taken a seat back on the stairs. "Did Snape ever tell you what potions and spells he was working on when you were working together?"

He looked confused at her question. His brows knitted together as he thought back to the sessions of cabinet fixing.

"No, I never asked. I remember him writing stuff down in some book, and a few odd words here and there… but no… I never found out what it was for." He was quiet for a while contemplating the memory.

"Come to think of it I remember one Latin phrase, I think it was Latin anyway. It was something like 'victus vel in nex' or something like that. I heard him say it while I was taking a break one day.

"I thought it sounded odd, he seemed to use it quite a bit… but now that I'm thinking about it… I wonder." He was now talking out loud to himself. "He couldn't have, he would have said something… unless…"

He snapped his eyes up to Hermione with the strangest expression. "Unless!" He was smiling now, he looked completely excited as he started to pace.

"Dumbledore didn't know! that's the only explanation… it has to be!" He got up and began to pace while talking in broken sentences to himself.

"I cant believe I didn't place the words until just now… of course! Of course! He couldn't possibly tell him… he would have immediately put a stop to it… how on earth did he ever think of it?… he had to have used occlumensy there's no other way."

While he was rambling on Ron and Harry were shooting him irritated glances from across the room while talking to each other. Hermione was watching Malfoy intently, trying to pick up what he was rambling on about.

"Malfoy?" Hermione held up a hand weakly, trying to stop his pacing "What did he do? What was Snape doing?" She asked when he finally stopped walking and acknowledged her.

"It's the only explanation I can think of. The phrase means something like 'life and death' or something like that my Latin isn't so good. I cant quite place it." He was speaking feverishly fast.

"What if he figured it out. I mean, it wouldn't be the first spell he invented right?…" Malfoy was whispering to Hermione now. He seemed to be trying to only tell her and not Ron or Harry, who were both now staring at her and Malfoy looking very angry.

Hermione figured out why quite quickly after a brief search. She hadn't even noticed until then, but Malfoy had placed a gentle hand on her upper arm while they were speaking. She hadn't even felt him touch her. She immediately turned beat red and inconspicuously moved away from Malfoy's hand without him seeing why.

"Hermione…"

She felt her heart race again when she heard him use her given name instead of her sur name. he'd never called her by her first name. he looked her right in the eyes.

"What if he figured it out?"

She was running what Malfoy had said over and over in her mind and it finally clicked. Her eyebrows, that had been scrunched together in confusion, now sprung up into her hairline as her eyes shot up to see Malfoy looking at her intently.

He had been watching her thought process with a smile on his face. She spoke quietly and softly.

"Oh… My… God… you don't think?…" Right as she was about to finish her sentence Ron came over and grabbed her arm.

"Hey, what's going on over here? He can't be trusted Hermione, don't be so daft. He's lying to us"

She was just staring at Malfoy, her mouth slightly open, transfixed as her thoughts took over…. how could this be, why wouldn't Snape have told us, told Dumbledore, something….

"Hermione! Snap out of it!" Ron was now shaking her roughly. She turned her head towards him and blinked a few times before she realized that his firm grip on her arms was beginning to hurt.

"Ouch Ron! Let go!" She jerked her arms away from him.

"What's gotten into you Hermione? Huuh?" Ron was glaring between her and Malfoy.

"Huuh? No… Nothing, nothing has gotten into me. I'm fine." She finally fumbled the words out, as she looked up at Malfoy. He was still smiling slightly with a hopeful look.

"It's nothing Ron, seriously." Hermione did her best to convince Ron that she was ok. She decided to try to change the subject instead.

"Come on, we need to get some sleep, we are all very tired. This can wait until later cant it?… Malfoy isn't going anywhere…" She turned to Malfoy. "Are you?"

He looked pleased with himself at her apparent concern. "No I'm not leaving anywhere until tomorrow when I return to the manor with my mother"

"See." Hermione turned back to Ron and Harry. "Please can this just wait? We are all exhausted and can do with a good night sleep, for once in our lives.

"We will have time to think all of this over, and then we can handle it tomorrow morning, ok?"

Hermione gave her best pleading look to Ron and Harry… and at last, it worked. They both gave a short hard nod and then turned towards the door they had all entered through. Harry and Ron left before Hermione, which gave her a chance to steal one last glance at Malfoy.

He was watching her, Harry, and Ron exit the room. As soon as she turned around and caught his gaze he looked at her with only one question left. Screaming at her through his steel blue eyes, begging an answer from her was 'do you believe me?' It was etched across every inch of his face, in every worried wrinkle in his forehead, and most definitely in his eyes.

"Hermione come on!" Ron yelled from out side of the doorway causing her to jump slightly.

She held Malfoy's gaze a moment longer, studying his eyes. She finally decided she saw nothing but truth in them. She relaxed her shoulders slightly and gave him a small smile, and nodded her head once to confirm her belief in him.

His expression changed immediately as he broke eye contact and sat down on the stairs. He placed his elbow on his knee, and his head in his hand. He looked sad but very relieved as she turned the corner to join Harry and Ron.

Her mind was absolutely racing with all of the information she had just absorbed from Malfoy. One thing she knew for sure. She was going to have to visit the library in the morning before they left for the burrow.

~*KAII*~


	2. Chapter 2 Rough Transitions

Chapter 2. ~Rough Transitions

Rough Transitions

As the three of them headed to their dormetories in Gryffindor tower there was little to no talking. Walking through the great hall they got quite a few looks from all of the people that were now sitting at the tables. Hermione supposed dinner had just been served to these few people, or was going to be served soon. It didn't take long until they were almost to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

As they came around the corner they ran into Ginny. She was sitting against the wall with her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs, and her chin resting on her knees. She had her eyes closed and Hermione could see tear tracks leading down her pale cheeks. Her hair had grown significantly longer since she had seen Ginny last. It used to be a little past her shoulders, but now her dark auburn tresses fell past her belt line. **has it really been that long?** Hermione thought to herself as she looked at the curtain of hair that fell around Ginny's small body.

"Ginny?" Hermione spoke softly so that she wouldn't startle her if she were asleep. "Ginny, are you ok?"

The small girl stirred a little, then finally she opened her eyes and blinked the sleep from them. As she stood up and looked for who was speaking she brushed her hair behind her shoulder and rubbed her cheeks with her palms. Hermione could tell she was trying to wipe away the evidence of her tears. Ginny turned her head towards the trio and imediately a sad smile spread across her lips.

"Hey Hermione, Harry, Ron." She nodded to each in turn, her voice was worn out and tired sounding. Hermione noticed the quick look shared between Harry and Ginny, she knew it was only a matter of time before they ended up feeling ready to be together again. She was happy for them. They both really deserved to be happy, they had both been through so much over the past two years, and she knew they were so in love with one another. They truely were ment to be.

Hermione gave Ginny a tight embrace, she felt Ginny relax into her and give a sigh of relief. She relaxed her grip of Ginny and held her at arms length by the shoulders, like and mother would have done to a small child.

"Are you ok Gin? Your not hurt right?" Hermione began to question her. She was concerned about Ginny, seeing her balled up against the wall. Hermione started to worry weather or not Ginny had been injured. Or if she would even tell someone if she were hurt.

"I'm fine, really Hermione, I promise I'm not hurt. I just needed to have some time to myself. I guess I was more tired than I thought." Ginny said as she was absentmindedly running her fingers through her thick hair. She looked from Hermione to her brother. He gave her a small but sincere smile, which she returned as she leaned in for a hug.

Hermione knew they were both thinking of their brother. She imediately felt a pang of hurt in her chest. Then she felt almost like an intruder on a very personal moment, so she moved her eyes to look at Harry instead. He was looking at Ginny with one of the softest expressions she had ever seen. Secretly she was jealous, not because she had any feelings for Harry at all, but because she secretly wished that someone would look at her with so much tenderness and love. She knew Ginny would never want for anything with Harry, he would devote himself to her in every way.

"Come on, let's get inside and relax. Get some sleep, we're all exhausted." Harry said quietly as he walked up to the portrait hole.  
"I don't have a password, but can't you let us in anyways?" He asked nicely to the Fat Lady

"For you dear, of course, as long as you can answer one question of mine." She smiled at them. "I've got to have some type of security on the tower after all."

"Altight then, what's the question?" Harry asked her.

"To prove that you are a true Gryffindor and belong in this tower, answer me this. Out of your seven years at Hogwarts in which year was I briefly replaced, by whom, and why?" She smiled at the four of them. "Only a true Gryffindor would know exactly why, and by who, after all."

"That's easy. It was in our third year, Ginny's second year. You were replaced by Sir Cadagon and it was because your painting had been torn to shreads when the tower was broken into and raided by Sirius Black. My god father." Harry smiled, at least it was an easy question, one that he did indeed know the answer to. The Fat Lady smiled at the four and opened the portrait tunnle, saying "That's absolutly correct, you may enter."

The boys let Ginny and Hermione go first and they followed closely behind. Everyone was releived to see their common room almost completely untouched by the war. The only remanants were a few crooked pictures hanging above the entrance way, a few cracked walls, and some slightly upturned furniture.

The girls imediately took over the small sofa in front of the fire place, their usual spot. Ron and Harry both sat on opposite ends of the sofa in the squashy arm chairs. No one spoke for a few minutes while they all enjoyed their first real moment of relaxation. The common room was very comforting, it smelt like it always had, and the sound of the crackling fireplace made it all the more inviting. Like a warm cozy cabin.

After a while of comfortable silence Ginny turned to Hermione. "Where were you three? I looked all over for you and couldn't find you anywhere!" She looked over at Ron. "Oh yeah!" She said as she looked at Ron, and remembered something she was supposed to do.

"Mum wanted me to be sure I told all of you that we will be be leaving to the Burrow between noon and two. The Order has to make a stop by there in the morning to check for any spells, curses, or enchantments. Dad asked them to make sure that it was safe for us to go home. Once they are done Kingsly will give us the all clear." She turned to Hermione and Harry as she took a breath.

"And she told me to tell the two of you that she won't hear any arguments about you comming to the Burrow, she said she wants her family together and that means the two of you as well." Ginny had a small smirk on her face as she repeated the request in an almost spot on impression of Mrs. Weasley.

Harry sat and listened to Ginny with his head down, stairing at his shoes as he started to unlace them. When she was finished he looked up as though he were going to say something, but the look on Ginny's face made him think better of it. He only nodded in response as he looked back down and finished removing his shoes and socks, an action Ron was currently mimicking.

"Well of course I'll go with all of you. I haven't really got anywhere else to go to anyways, since my parents are still in Australia." Hermione smiled at Ginny, then sighed with obvious concern. "I didn't really plan on how to get them back... I wasn't sure if I'd be able to after all." She smiled sadly as she looked down into her fidgetting hands in her lap.

"None of us thought we'd be able to, Hermione. But we made it through, we finished it, it's all over now." Harry had leaned foreward in his seat and placed one hand over Hermione's fidgetting ones.

"I know it's over, it's just so hard to take In Harry. I mean ever since our first year we have always been fighting, or been in constant danger from some evil having to do with Voldemort. I just couldn't be certain we could be as lucky as we had been in our first six years at hogwarts." She sighed at the memory of their adventures in their youth.

"It's just going to take some time to get used to it. Getting used to not having to look over your shoulder so often, and fear for everyone around you all the time. To have to keep secrets from all of the people you love, because your afraid they will be used against you." As Hermione said the last sentance she turned to face Ginny.

"I'm sorry Gin, none of us wanted to keep you, Luna, Nevel and everyone so in the dark, we just couldn't risk the possibility of losing you. Any of you. If they thought you had any information about us, they would have used you against us. All of you are too important to us." She reached her hand out and placed it on Ginny's knee. Ginny looked up and staired off across the room with a distant expression. She had misty eyes, but didn't cry.

Finally Ginny looked over at Hermione and spoke. "I just felt very left out. Like none of you trusted me anymore." She sighed. "Look, I know why you say that you kept us out of the loop, but it doesn't make it feel any better to be left out."

She pointedly glaired in Harry's direction. "It didn't help keep us out of any of the danger."

She looked back over to Hermione, who saw the guilty, hurt look pass over Harrys face after Ginny looked away. "We still had threats, problems with Death Eaters, we were still targeted. In fact we were usually the first to be targeted just because we knew you. It didn't help, it just made us worry even more because we didn't know..." She wasn't yelling, she just sounded let down.

"We know GinGin." Ron said to her. "But your our family, we just couldn't risk losing you... We love you too much. We didn't know you'd still have to deal with all of the dangers at hogwarts. We honestly thought we were keeping our family as safe as possible."

"I love you guys too... I just... I wish I could have helped. You know?" Ginny shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway, what have you three been doing today? You never said." Ginny asked as an obvious change of subject.

"We had a run in with Malfoy actually." Harry supplied, Hermione figured it was his way of starting to keep her in the loop instead of sheltering her.

Ginny's eyes widened, and she looked between Harry, Ron, and Hermione with her mouth slightly open. "Your serious?... What happened?" Ginny turned back to Hermione with a mix of worry and interest playing on her face.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron retold the encounter to Ginny. Harry and Ron made no attempt to hide their disbelief in Malfoy as the openly joked about him coming to the light, and how Malfoy claimed to have a heart. Hermione on the other hand kept her oppinions to herself.

Ginny noticed Hermione's lack of comments on Malfoy's story. She made a mental note to ask Hermione about it later. She assumed that Hermione, being the more logical person, had a more thought out oppinion of Malfoy. As well as weather or not he had any truth to his tale.

After they had finished telling Ginny of the encounter she gave Harry a puzzled yet thoughtful look. "How can you be so sure he wasn't telling the truth? I mean, if it were my mum, I'd do almost anything." As she said this she caught Hermione's eye, just as she suspected, Hermiones ears perked up. Ginny knew that Hermione believed Malfoy from her sudden interest in thr question she had asked, like she wanted to know the answer to the same question but was afraid to ask it herself... Which was the truth. Ginny was also not too convinced that Malfoy was lying about his actions.

"Because it's Malfoy, isn't it?" Ron supplied lameyl.

"Ron, don't be so clouded by hate." Ginny scolded. "Look at Snape after all... Can't you just admit that it could be possible?" Ginny looked hopefully between the boys, then to Hermione with he same look.

Then finally Hermione spoke up. "You know... I really don't think Malfoy was lying." Harry and Ron both shot her a look that clearly said 'you've got to be kidding me are you mental?'

"Now just hear me out." She defended before they has a chance to talk. Now I'm pretty good at reading people, wouldn't you agree?"

Both of the boys nodded that they agreed, so she continued. "I was watching him as he spoke earlier, and all of his muscle movements, his gestures, and looks showed nothing but truth and honesty. I really don't think he was lying. The least we could do is ask the Order to see if they think it's at all possible. If they do, then maybe we can try to convince him to tell the Order using veritasyrum. Sound fair?" She questioned in a hopeful tone.

As she saw the look on Harry's face she knew she'd need to give him a little more of a reason to agree. "I just don't want to condem someone that may have helped our side... I mean look at Snape... No one knew one hundred prcent if he was Dumbledores man. We all had out doubts, and rightfully so on most parts, but he was still helping us to the very end. The least we could do is to be sure before we possibly make a huge mistake."

Neither of the boys looked mad, which made Hermione relax slightly. Finally, after a few minutes of thought, Harry answered.  
"Ok, Hermione, but ONLY because your asking. I still don't trust the slimy git... But I do trust your judgement... So we will ask the Order tomorrow when we get back to the Burrow. If they think it's possible then we will go from there. I'm not going to guarantee anything though. Agreed?"

Hermione let out a small sigh. She was very relieved that her feelings of Malfoys story didn't cause a fight. "That's all I'm asking for." Hermione responded with a smile.

"Ok so that's what we will do then." Harry told her with a nod.

"You can't be serious!" Ron said harshly making Hermione cringe a little. "Your actuly going to go along with this? You know he's lying. Why even waste your time?" Ron admonished. She could tell he was very upset that Harry was entertaining her theory. But she didn't care if he was mad, she believed Malfoy was telling the truth.

Ginny, sensing an argument, changed the subject. "I think i'm going to go to sleep, I'm really tired. Mum says to be ready before noon so we can leave as soon as we get word. Okay?" Ginny spoke to the group as she stood, stretched her arms above her head and yawned. Hermione, takeing Ginny's que, said.

"We should get sleep too actually. Come on boys!" Hermione stood as she yawned, and fanned her hand at the boys, signaling for them to get up too.

"Okay, okay, 'night GinGin. 'Night Hermione, see you in the morning." Ron said sleepily as he stood and stretched, still obvioulsy disgruntled.

Harry got up too and scratched the back of his head while yawning "See you in the morning, Sleep well you two." Hermione smiled slightly at Harry as she saw him deliberately look to Ginny after he spoke. Ginny didn't notice him looking at her though, she was busy braiding her hair on her way up to bed. She waved her hand over her head after Harry spoke and yawned her response of "You too." As she started up the stair case to the dormetories.

Hermione stayed behind for a few minutes to give the boys a proper good night. As she stood there looking at her two best friends she was hit with a sudden flood of emotions. This would be the first night in over three years that they could go to bed without having a constant threat of evil or death looming over them... It would also be the first night in about a year that they wouldn't be together through the night... It almost made her feel lost and unsure of what to do...

She stood next to the armchairs and watched as the boys gathered up their shoes and socks which had been romoved earlier that night. She was completely overwhelmed with happieness knowing that against all odds they had all survived and were still together. They were able to grow and live full happy lives together.

She never thought it would turn out the way it had. She figured one, two, or all of them wouldn't make it through all of this together. She finally took a deep breath and let out the tension her shoulders had been holding for the last year. It felt so good to finally be able to breath freely.

"Well... I guess I will see you two in the morning then. Get some good sleep, Harry, you really need it. Okay?"

Harry nodded to her and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, your definately right about that." He walked up to Hermione and gave her a firm but comforting hug, one that a sister might recive from a brother. She sighed and relaxed into him. After a few minutes he gave her one last squeez then released her with a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks Hermione. I couldn't have made it through this without you. Without either of you." He said as he looked over the sofa to Ron. "You have no idea what the two of you mean to me..." He stopped talking, and Hermione could tell it was because he was feeling overwhelmed too.

"Your like family to me, Harry. I'd always be here to help you... Through anything." Hermione said in response to Harry thanks.

"Yeah mate, family. Nothing's more important. Becidse, we knew you would need help, you can't always do everything alone." Ron shrugged and looked down for a moment. "You'd have done the same for us." Ron stated quite simply. Harry gave a slightly embarrased grin.

"I know I can't... It's taken me a while to figure it out though. I'm glad we all agree on one thing though... Family, to the end." Both of them nodded in agreeance.

"Okay, we should all get to bed. None of us have slept very well for a long time now." Hermione said as she ushered the boys towards their dormetories. Ron gave her a hug and walked up the stairs mumbling "G'night." As he yawned. Harry gave a small wave while he started his way up the stair case. Hermione turned around and took one last glance around the common room, taking in it's familliar comforting feeling, and then walked the short distance to the stairs for the girls dormetories.

As she pushed open the door to the bedrooms she noticed Ginny sitting in her bed in the same tucked up  
position she was found in earlier. Again she had tear tracks running down her cheeks, these ones were fresh though. Her long hair was braided over her shoulder. Her eyes were closed, but Hermione knew she was not asleep. She went quickly over to Ginny's bedside and put a gentle hand on Ginny's shoulder as she sat down.

As soon as Hermione touched Ginny she recoiled with a start. However once she saw that it Hermione she began to sob uncontrolably. Hermione we completely shocked at Ginny's extremely uncharacteristic behavior, but as soon as she saw Ginny break down, her motherly instincts took over. She imediately wrapped the younger girl in her arms and rocked her back and forth trying to sooth her.

Hermione had never, in the six years of knowing the Weasleys, seen Ginny cry so uncontrolably. It scared her to see the always tough Ginny so broken up. She didn't know what to say to console the girl so she did the only thing she could think to do, and let Ginny get it all out. She just rocked her back and forth, and ran her hand through Ginny's hair or rubbed her back to comfort her. It was a good twenty minutes or mone until Ginny's sobs subsided into heavy uneven breathing and sniffeling, and eventually into heavy even breathing indicating Ginny had finally fallen asleep.

Very gently she adjusted Ginny's small frame until she was laying down on her side, still asleep. Hermione sat watching Ginny for a few minutes trying to figure out why Ginny had recoiled away from her so badly, and then broke down so suddenly. After watching Ginny's relaxed breathing, Hermione was convinced that she would be ok through the night. She very carefully got up off of the bed so as not to wake Ginny. She quietly got undressed, braided her long curly hair back out of her face and slipped under the covers of the closest four poster to Ginny's, just in case.

It wasn't until almost nine o'clock in the morning that any of the four woke up, Harry being the first, as usual. He was always the first up over the last year, always waking from various nightmares in a pannicked sweat. This time however he woke on his own. The first time in at least over a year, and over three hours later than any other day he could remember waking up. Amaizingly he felt pretty god, physically at least, he had slept for close to twelve hours without waking even once. He smiled to himself as he stretched and let out a contented groan. Ron was just starting to stir as Harry was dressing fifteen minutes later, after a relaxing shower.

"uuugh... Wha' time's it?" Ron mumbled as he rolled over.

"it's time to get up." Harry chuckled as he tossed a pillow at Ron.

"Hey! I'm awake, I'm awake!" Ron said as he threw the pillow at Harry who tryed, unsuccessfully, to dodge it. Ron sleepily got out of bed and walked to the bathroom for a quick shower. Ten minutes later Ron was back in the room getting dressed as well. After a quick comb of the hair and brushing of their teeth the boys headed down the stairs to the common room below. They sat around the fire place and talked as they waited for the girls, who were just beginning to wake.

Hermione rolled over slowly and yawned. As she sat up her head started to pound a little. She stretched and looked over to Ginny's bed. The red head was still fast asleep in almost the same position Hermione had left her in. Although Hermione did notice that all of the bedding that had been neatly layed over Ginny, was now in shambles around her as though she had been furiously tossing and turning most of the night.

She felt bad for not having heard Ginny in the middle of the night, but she knew she was very tired and could probably have slept through an earthquake lastnight. Hermione got out of bed slowly stretching her arms above her head and walked over to Ginny.

"Gin, you okay?" She asked as she sat down and put her hand on Ginny's back. She saw Ginny blink awake.

"Hummm... OH!" She quickly rolled over, and then saw Hermione looking at her. "Oh Hermione, I'm sorry I didn't mean to jump. Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"I slept fine. Are you alright Ginny?" Hermione asked as she looked around at Ginny's disheveled bedding. Ginny looked down into her lap. "Ginny are you okay? You were... Well.. Ginny, I'm worried about you. I've never seen you so upset." Hermione was stairing at Ginny very intently, while Ginny wrang her hands together.

Finally she took a shakey breath and looked up to Hermione. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you... It's just... So much has happened. It's all so much to take in. Fred, Tonks, Lupin... Then when I saw Harry laying there... Still, lifeless... I thought he was gone Hermione. I've never felt so much pain, I wanted to die too...

And then, like some kind of sick joke his body dissappeared... Then he appeared out of nowhere... I was thrilled. I AM thrilled that he's alive. And at the same time i'm just so bitter that everyone else will never come back." She sighed in frustration. " I don't know how to describe how I'm feeling... Or even why I broke down. I'm sorry I worried you. I didn't mean to." She had been rambling in broken sentances trying to explain herself, but Hermione knew just how Ginny was feeling... Because she felt the same way.

Ginny was whispering now. "I thought I'd never see any of you again. I've had so many dreams, nightmares of seeing you three dead, tourtured, beaten." She shuddered. "Then I saw you three alive it felt like I was In a dream, like it wasn't real, and soon I'd have to see all of you die all over again. Then, just as I was starting to realize that I wasn't dreaming and that you all really were back, we were called out to find Harry seemingly dead... I've never felt so helpless and dead inside." She was on the verge of tears again as she spilled her heart out to Hermione.

Hermione took Ginny's shoulders and geltly squeezed causing Ginny to stop talking and look up into Hermione's eyes.

"Gin, it's okay. I understand how your feeling. I've been having very similar feelings. You don't have to explain anymore. Look... I know this doesn't help how your feeling now... But it will be okay. Things will get better." Hermione paused and looked at Ginny with a smile. "You know Gin... Harry, Ron, and myself were all having the same fears about you and everyone else."

Hermione pause while she thought about weather or not to tell Ginny any more. "Harry more than anyone, he was really a mess. I hated seeing him so torn up." She thought for a minute before deciding to tell Ginny about Harry. She took in a breath and said.

"Look Gin, please don't be too hard on him. He really thought he was doing the right thing. He really loves you, ya know." She smiled at Ginny who's eyes lit up at that last sentance. "I'd hear him in his sleep. He always had nightmares, every night almost." Ginny looked down.

"He didn't think either of us knew, but i'm usually a light sleeper." She sighed. "I heard him, even in his dreams he was trying to protect you... Just give him time." Hermione smiled.

Ginny looked down for a few minutes, then finally she nodded slowly. "Okay, Hermione, I'll trust you. It's going to get better." She smiled a small but happy smile. "And I will be patient." She said sheepishly.

Hermione smiled at Ginny and gave her a hug. "Alright, let's get dressed we've got to get some breakfast, and get ready to go." In about twenty minutes Hermione and Ginny were dressed and ready. Ginny had on jeans and a long sleeved green top. She had her thick hair flowing freely straight down her back. While Hermione was in jeans as well, but had on a blue tank top with a cream sweatshirt. Her hair was falling in soft curls from her hair clip at the back of her head.

Hermione couldn't remember the last time she got to take her time getting ready, or even the last time she actually got to take a shower. The water felt so good, relaxing her muscles and washing away all of the past few days at least. She had finally read up on spells to maintain her unruely hair which she was now putting to good use. As the girls walked down the stairs to meet the boys, Hermione couldn't help but feel like she was on cloud nine, they had made it. However as soon as she remembered what they would be doing today she felt a pang of guilt for being so happy while her closest friends, her family really, would be mourning the loss of one of their own.

They stepped out into the common room and Hermione imediately caught Harry's eye. He looked nervous in her oppinion. She gave him a reasuring smile and a nod. He seemed to relax a bit after that. She figured he was worried that Ginny was mad at him or hated him. After all Ginny hadnt so much as glanced at him for more than a few seconds, and had only spoken to him briefly since they had found her. She knew Harry wanted to comfort her over Fred, but knew he was worried she might blame him. I was written all over his face how concerned he was.

"morning you two, took you long enough, we've been waiting for ever... I'm starving!" Ron said to them as they got closer to where the boys had taken a seat.

"Oh calm down Ron, your not going to starve for merlins sake!" Ginny said back at her brother, who scoweled but said nothing back.

"Morning Hermione, Gin." Harry said to each in turn. Hermione noticed how much more cautious he was in talking to Ginny Hermione nodded her good morning as gave Harry a small hug as she reached the boys first.

There was a brief pause before Ginny finally spoke to Harry. "Good morning Harry, did you sleep well?" She asked when she got next to them. Hermione saw Harry's eyes light up the moment Ginny spoke to him.

"I slept ok, longer than I have in a year or so..." He trailed off suddenly as though he didn't expect the last part to exit his mouth.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it." Ginny said to him. Causing a very large, goofy grin to spread across his face. Ginny laughed as she said. "Alright we should get down to breakfast before Mum sends up the search party to see where we've got off to."

They all had a good laugh as Ron practically fell over himself to get to the portrait hole and down to breakfast.

It was no surprise to any of them when Ron dug into his third helping of waffles, eggs and potatoes. Ginny and Hermione couldn't help but stair in disgusted awe as Ron shoveled forkfull after forkfull of food into his mouth.

"Do you have to be so... Messy while you eat, Ronald?" Hermione scrunched up her face as Ron tryed to answer her question through all of the food that was rolling around in his mouth.

"Honestly Ronald, you'd think your Mum never taught you any manners... Which I KNOW isn't true because none of therest of the family seems to have a problem maintaining self control." She folded her arms over her chest and looked away from Ron's disturbing display.

Harry chuckled to himself over his two best friends. They always seemed to find something about the other to either complain about or point out to everyone. But he always took their constant bickering in Stride. After seven years of being with the two of them almost constantly, it was a comfort to Harry to hear them bicker... It ment that they were comfortable and relaxed enough to feel free to do so... that things were finally beginning to go back to normal.

While they were on the hunt for Horcruxes it was always so quiet and tense between all of them, they were cold, hungry, and frustrated all of the time. Back then, the fighting was actual fighting, loud yelling, and nasty things being said back and forth. He hated to hear his psudo family so angry all of the time. This was a much needed change for all of them.

Harry took a second to look around the table they were at. He observed everyone as they interacted with one another. Everyone was smiling, but their smiles didn't quite reach their eyes, it was obvious that they were still hurting from the loss of Fred, Tonks, and Lupin.

Ron was still shoveling food into his mouth across from Harry, while Bill, Mrs. Weasley, Fleur, and Mr. Weasley were sitting on his other side chatting with one another. Every once in a while one of them would chuckle a little at something said by another, all of them still munching on random prices of their breakfast.

Charlie and George were sitting across from the others talking, George still looked like he was in shock, Charlie was obviously trying to help his grieving process by offering him bits of advice from one brother to another. Every so often George would give Charlie a half smile and nod a little.

Harry imediately felt like he had swallowed a frozen led ball. His heart was consticting with sadness for how George must be feeling, and how guilty he felt over Fred's death. He couldn't take looking at him anymore, he panned away from them and his eyes imediately landed on the one person he longed to be alone with. To whom he wanted to explain why he had done what he did, and how sorry he was at hurting her so much.

His eyes were glued to every movement she was making, every breath, every smile as she spoke to Hermione. He watched as she tossed her long hair over one shoulder while talking animatedly to Hermione, and then absentmindedly leaned her head back onto Charlie's shoulder and smiled.

"Harry?... Harry?!" Hermione finally had to snap her fingers in front of his face to get him to snap out of it. "Hello, you in there?" She was now laughing at him as he turned a violent shade of red, and quickly looked away from Ginny just as she turned her head towards him.

"Oh good, for a second there I thought you had fallen asleep with your eyes open or something." She was grinning at him knowingly.

"No, no, I'm awake. Just thinking is all." He gave her a slightly bashfull look that said all the things that he couldn't right at the moment. She smiled, and was just about to say something in return when Mrs. Weasley got up from the table and spoke to everyone that was still seated.

"Alright everyone, I want you all ready to leave by noon." She looked around for a clock finally finding one on a wall. "So, that leaves you exactly an hour and a half to finish, don't be late!" She warned as she gave them all her stern look. "As soon as we get word that The Burrow is all clear I want to head out. So meet us back here by noon. Everyone understand?" Everyone nodded in unison and very abruptly dispursed to pack and get ready.

Ron led the way out of the Great Hall toward the Gryffindor tower. He was walking slowly taking longer strides, had his hands in his pants pockets and his head down. Hermione knew that walk... He was sad or upset, Hermione knew why of course, who wouldn't be sad and upset over the loss of a brother. She quickened her pace to catch up to him, leaving Harry and Ginny walking behind herself and Ron. She hoped Harry might take the opportunity to talk to Ginny, but he seemed to be waiting for a better moment to do so.

"Hey Ron." Hermione greeted once she got within speaking distance. He slowed his pace slighly and looked back to see her.

"Hey." Was all he said in a monotone voice.

"You ok? I mean... Well..." She studdered. She didn't know how to ask him how he was feeling about Fred and his family. But Ron seemed to understand from her unusual lack of words. He shrugged slightly with watery eyes and looked back down as he walked on.

"Im so sorry Ron, I don't know what else to say." She paused for a few moments unsure of how to continue. "Ummmm, you know, if you want to talk." She nodded slightly. "About anything, I'm all ears, okay?" She asked. Her eyes were starting to sting as she felt them glaze over slightly, so she scrunched her eyebrows together trying not to cry for Ron's sake.

He gave her a sad half smile and nodded. Before she could help herself she felt her salty tears spill over onto her pale cheeks. She was glad Ron had looked away to his other side before he could see her emotional display. Quickly, she wiped them away with her sleeve. Then gave herself a nod as she inwardly told herself to get a grip on her emotions until she was alone.

"She could tell Ron was hurting, and she didn't want to hive him any more of a reason to break down. She had decided that she had to be strong for Ginny and Ron, it was their brother after all, not hers. It had just felt like her family for the last six years. Her mind knew they wern't actualy her blood relatives, but in her heart, she was attached to every single one of them. She loved each one of them as if she had grown up with them for her whole life.

In truth she had grown up with them for at least half of her life. She knew them, knew their faults, their funny quirks, their senses of humor. All of the things that made her love them, love each one of them seperately and as a whole. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down as they entered the portrait hole together.

"Okay, we've got an hour roughly to get packed and ready. Let's get to it then." Ginny said, then turned around with Hermione and walked up the dormetory stairs, as the boys followed suit and went to their own dormetories.

Once Ginny and Hermione had entered their room Ginny got to work collecting her belongings. Hermione sat for a few minutes before she realized that she had nothing to pack, she was so used to packing as she went that she was already ready to go. Being on the run had it's perks she supposed, she would always be able to be ready at a moments notice, her beaded bag was always packed and tucked into her pocket, and today was no acception.

"Hey Gin." Hermione said as she suddenly remembered what she had originally wanted to do that morning.

Ginny answered from the restroom as she was collecting her toiletries. "Yeah, what's up?" She called.

"I've just remembered, I need to go to the library. I've got to look something up before we leave." She called back.

After a second Ginny's head popped out of the doorway followed by a curtain of dark red hair, with a puzzled expression upon her face. "Why?" She asked in a confused but curious tone. Ginny's eyebrows knitted together as Hermione answered.

"Ive got to look up, and translate a Latin phrase into English." She said absentmindedly as she was thinking over Malfoy's words, 'victus vel in nex', she had to find out what it ment. She could still see the look on Malfoy's face as he tryed to quickly translate the words. She remembered the excitement he showed her once he thought he may have had a rough translation, and what it ment it he were correct.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked for the third time, finally pulling Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Humm? Sorry, what did you say Gin?" She asked. Ginny shook her head slightly as she smirked.

"I asked if you wanted help, we could look quicker with two people on it." Ginny said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Im all done here so i've got the time. We both have at least thirty or forty minutes until we have to leave."

"Assumeing they don't find anything." Hermione supplied. "Yeah, I'd actually love the company at least, but help would be awesome too." She hoped they could find a book that translated Latin to English. She hadn't ever seen one before, she was concerned that she may have to wqit until she could go to a muggle cafe and look it up on line.

Ginny finished locking up her trunk and turned to face Hermione. "Alright, let's go!" She said as she grabbed her sweatshirt. "We can either ask one of the elves to grab our stuff, or we can haul it down with us now, it's up to you." Ginny said.

"Hummm... I guess we could ask kreature just this once. I really don't want to lug all of this around with us." She looked over at all of Ginny's belongings. "You've got a lot of stuff Gin, why so much?" She asked playfully.

Ginny avirted her eyes as she answered. "Wasn't sure how long I'd be here, wanted to keep my stuff with me, just in case, you know?" She shrugged. "Any ways, we should get going. We are running out of time." Ginny turned and headed for the door. Hermione followed behind quietly, she knew something was up with Ginny. She just couldn't place what it was, she had a feeling Ginny was hideing something. Hermione decided to let it go for now and focus on what they needed to do.

They didn't run into the boys on their way our of the common room, she figured they would have been do e already, but this did save berths explaination of what they were doing and why she didnt want them to go. An explaination she really did not want to give either of them, in fact she wasn't sure she even wanted to tell them about her and Malfoy's appiphanie. She knew they would just laugh at the thought of Malfoy thinking he might be able to bring Dumbledore back, that was after all what Malfoy's idea was. Truth be told, even she was scepticle of weather or not it was possibe, but she saw the conviction in malfoys eyes while he was feverishly trying to get her to understand. He truely believed he could be right, and for that, she would check into it. Starting with an actual translation.

Hermione and Ginny rounded the corner into the library and found a table off to the left of the door in the corner, where no one would see them reading through books if they were to look in.

"So we need a 'Latin to English' translatior book." Hermione said. "But I'm not sure where to look... I've never seen one in here. I've actually never seen any translation books to be honest. Except for runes translations." She sighed as she looked over at all of the many rows of books looming over them. Looking at all of these books was making her wish the wizarding world was equipt with some of the modern muggle amenities... Like computers.

"So what is this phrase you've got to translate? And why?" Ginny asked as she walked over towards the book shelves.

"The phrase is 'Victus Vel In Nex'... It was something I read in a book... But it didn't give me a deffinition. Or any ideas of what it may mean." She lied. Hermione felt bad about not being truthful to Ginny, but she didn't want to get onto the conversation Malfoy and herself had had. Nor did she want to possibly get Ginny's hopes up... Merlin knew she herself already had her hopes up.

"'Victus Vel In Nex' sounds pretty. Alright..." Ginny turned to face Hermione. "Tell me where to look and what to look for. Then I'll be able to help you." Ginny said with a determined look and her hands on her hips.

Hermione smiled at Ginny's display. "Okay, look in the 'T' section for 'translations' or anything that looks like it may be able to be of some use. I'll look in the 'L' section for 'languages' or 'latin' then we will see what we can get from either section. We've only ot about fifteen or twenty minutes so let's get going." she felt like a football coach as she gave instuctions as if it were a game play. She almost had an overwhelming urge to say 'break!' when she was done.

Both girls wasted no time in getting to the section they were to look through. As Hermione turned down the 'L' section she began to wonder weather or not Malfoy had been here to look for a translation too. She figured, if he had, she would hopefully have already heard about it. She bagan to scan the books in the beginning of the 'L's. She ran over quite a few 'La' books like 'Late 20th Century Goblin Rights' and 'Land wars of 1326 AD' or 'Lady's in Wizarding History'.

Not all of the books seemed to be in completely alphabetical order. But much to her dismay, none of the books so far even had the word 'Latin' in the titles. As she kept scanning, her heart lept momentarily as she saw the word 'Latin' but quickly fell as she saw the rest of the title. 'Latin Witches and Their Leading Wizards'. She huffed, this was not going to be very easy obviously.

"Any luck, Gin?" She called over the rows of books dividing them.

"Nothing." A very dissappointed sounding Ginny called back. "I'm not sure this is going to work. The closest thing to 'translation' I got was 'Transitions of Turn of The Century Titles' or "Transfiguration: The Users Guide to Tranfiguring Your Critters' I mean really!... You think people needed a book like this for such an easy spell." Hermione laughed at Ginny's disgruntled voice.

"How long has it been, do we have more time?" Hermione asked.

"Oh no! We only have five minutes!" Ginny said in a pannick. "Mum will freak out if were late!" Hermione sighed, she knew Ginny was right. Slightly dissappointed she placed 'Latin Witches and Their Leading Wizzards' back on the shelf and turned around to head over to Ginny's section. She came around the corner to see Ginny placing a book back on the shelf and turning to walk out of the isle to Hermione.

"Sorry we couldn't find anything Hermione. What are we going to do about it now? I mean the Burrow doesn't have a library or anything." Ginny asked as they both hurried to the great hall.

"I don't know." Hermione sighed. "Maybe we can convince your Mum to let us go to Diagon Alley, if she let's us we can go to the book store there." She said with a hopeful look.

"Yeah, maybe. But we may have to wait for a while... The ummmm... The funerals will be happening over the next fee weeks." Ginny said timmidly.

Hermione wasn't sure what to say, she knew Ginny was hurting, but she also knew Ginny didn't want to breach the subject if her brothers death any more than was absolutly necisarry. Ginny was a tough girl, very strong willed and not overly emotional. Hermione knew if she were to offer any words of a consoling nature, Ginny could very well break down. She knew it would eventually happen reguardless but she wanted it to be when Ginny was ready, she didn't want to trigger it now.

"Hey Gin, thanks for trying to help me out." Hermione said as she gave Ginny a small hug. "Could you do me another favor though?"

"Yeah sure, what is it?" Ginny asked

"Ummm... Could you, maybe, not mension this to anyone for now. I didn't tell Ron or Harry any of the Latin translating stuff. And I'd really rather keep this to myself and you of course." She was gritting her teeth and internally crossing her fingers as she rambled through her request.

There was a moment of silence, then, "Yeah, sure. No problem... But." Ginny said slowly. "Then will you tell me where you actually heard it from?" She said with a sideways glance at Hermione, who was now grinning sheepishly. The girls entered the Great Hall as Ginny had asked her question, and Hermione was imediately cut off my Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh there you are! What took you so long? We've all been waiting here, we should be leaving any minute! Come here, come on quickly." Ginny gave Hermione an 'uh oh' look as she recognized her mothers usual panicked behavior that came about whenever she was under stress and nervous.

"I've already sent for your trunk Ginny dear. Hermione your all set right?" Mrs. Weasley was speaking so quickly that Hermione only had time to nod before she was given another question. "You didn't have a trunk, are you certain you've got everything? You'll be staying at the Burrow with us right?" She looked between Harry and Hermione expectantly.

At last Ginny cut in right as Mrs. Weasley turned to bombard Harry with even more questions. "Mum, calm down! I've already asked them like you wanted me to. They are both staying. Hermione, Harry and Ron are all packed, just like me. We are all set to go home, so stop stressing yourself out Mum, we just have to wait for the order to give the signal." She said with her hand on her mother's shoulder and an amused grin on her face.

Mrs. Weasley looked slightly stunned for a moment as she looked at Ginny, but after her moment of confusion, she finally admitted defeat and relaxed a little. She then turned to chat with Mr. Weasley, who until that moment, looked like he was doing his best to become part of the wall in order to escape the mass questioning.

Ginny turned to Hermione and rolled her eyes with a small exaseperated laugh, and shook her head slightly. Hermione smiled at her.

"So?" Ginny said. "Will you?" She whispered as she nudged Hermione.

She knew Ginny had caught her in a lie, she really had hoped she wasn't so transparent... But obviously she had failed.

"Alright Gin, I'll tell you tonight." She whispered back. "But you can't tell anyone not even Harry... Not yet, okay?" She said.

Ginny nodded and swore, "Not a single work!" In an excited tone.

"Promise?" Hermione asked just to make sure.

"I promise, I won't say a word!" Ginny said with he'd hand held up.

"Okay then. Tonight after everyone had gone to bed." Ginny gave her a huge grin of satisfaction and turned to the group just as Ron and Harry came up to them.

"What are you two talking about over here?" Ron questioned them.

"About how luxurious your hair is looking these days." Ginny offered before Hermione could think of anything to say. She continued poking fun at her brother. "You could almost pass for me if you wernt so tall... And of course you'd need to be WAY better looking." Ginny was bow giggling profusely at the look on Rons face.

"Ha Ha, GinGin, Very funny. It's not like we could just walk into a barber shop while on the run, ya know." He said in a mocking sarcastic tone. While Harry tryed to stiffel a few snorts of humor. Hermione, on the other hand, didn't even try to hide her laughter. Just as the chatter and giggling died down, Kingsly's patronus walked through the wall right in front of Mr. Weasley, and spoke in Kingsly's deep regal voice.

"Arthur, everything is good, we checked every room and the entire perimeter and every inch of your property, just to be sure. There were a few spells amd hexes set, but those have been taken care of. You are all safe to return home." As the message finished the patronus dissapated into nothin. Mr. Weasley smiled at the news and turned to everyone.

"Thats brilliant news. Is everyone ready then?" They all nodded almost in unison. "Alright then, gather around and grab hold of a part of this." He held up an old boot. "Once I activate it we will have about five seconds until it takes us all home."

Almost as soon as she touched it, she felt that familliar, uncomfortable feeling of being hooked behind her naval, then being tugged away to the Burrow.

~*KAII*~


	3. Chapter 3 The Return To The Burrow

Chapter 3. The Return To The Burrow

The Return to The Burrow

Hermione's feet landed hard on the ground as the portkey completed it's delivery. She still hadn't gotten the hang of landing gracefully when she used portkeys. Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, and Percy however landed rather gently. Luckily she wasn't the only ungraceful one in the group as Harry, Ginny, Ron, and George all seemed to be just as practiced as her, which made her feel a little better. Especially when she looked around to see Ron sprawled out not even having landed on his feet. She giggled and nudged Ginny, then pointed to Ron, Ginny began to laugh uncontrollably as Ron glared at the two of them.

"It's not that funny ya know!" He shot back in a disgruntled tone. "You aren't always perfect either... You floo like a giraffe down a water slide." He muttered under his breath as he brushed off his pants and shirt. It wasn't quiet enough though, because Ginny immediately stopped laughing and glared back at Ron while turning a dark shade of pink. Just as she was about to retort with another comment, Mrs. Weasley called over to everyone to follow her and to stay close just in case. Hermione sighed in relief. She knew this was going to end up as a large argument if no one had stepped in. Hermione, trying to continue distracting Ginny, grabbed her hand and led her to where Mrs. Weasley was now standing.

"Alright all of you, listen up!" Mrs. Weasley called over the quiet chatter. Everyone turned in her direction and stopped talking. "Now, the order has come through and checked the house for what they could find, but this doesn't mean that they have cleaned it, or that it's all put back to normal. So we still all need to be very very careful. I want all of you who still live here to go up to your rooms and start cleaning, keep an eye out for anything that looks out of place or that is not yours, just in case." She nodded to Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione. "Ok now George, Percy, and Bill take the den and living rooms. Fleur, you and I will take the kitchen and... And Bill's old room." Hermione noticed a slight hesitation before saying 'Bill's old room'. She knew Mrs. Weasley had almost said 'Fred and George's room'. The twins had moved out last year to live above the joke shop, but she had still referred to it as their room, up until this point. A little shaken she continued handing out duties. "Arthur and Charlie you take our room and the attic." They each nodded as she spoke to them. "Now I'm not expecting this to be perfect so just get the basics done, make it look mostly in order, we can sort the rest out later. Then we can meet downstairs for supper, is that understood?"

There were a few muffled and mumbled 'yes mum's' and 'okay's' as everyone paired off and headed to the front door of the Burrow to clear up their assigned sections of the home. As Ginny and Hermione, who were paired to clean Ginny's room, entered the front door after everyone else Hermione took in a sharp breath. She couldn't believe how disheveled the Burrow looked, how could anyone be so cruel. Then she remembered that the death eaters had no regard for anyone's possessions or homes. She knew deep down that this was what they would come home to all of them did, but she had still hoped for everyones sake, that maybe it wouldn't be this bad. She was wrong, and it was even worse than she thought it would be. Not only was the house in complete shambles, but she along with everyone who loved the Burrow, was feeling completely and utterly violated. Stripped of the sense of security and privacy that one would usually feel when they came home. She could see it in Ginny's eyes, despair, hurt, hatred, but above all else Hermione could tell she felt violated.

Hermione was worried about the moment they would enter Ginny's room. She knew Ginny wouldn't handle it very well if all of her belongings were destroyed, or as badly ransacked as the other rooms that she could see from the door were. They entered the kitchen slowly, careful not to slip on any of the various liquids splattered across the floor. Hermione took in the destruction. The cabinets were all opened with some of the doors pulled off of the hinges and hanging, or on the floor. Almost all of the dishes, cups, and bowls were shattered all across the counters and the floors beneath. The table was split into two pieces and thrown on it's side across the room. All of Mrs. Weasley's copper pots and cast iron pans were scattered from their usual hanging spots all along the floor and counters. All of Mr. Weasley's muggle items had been destroyed, if Hermione had to guess she would say that they had been melted. His toaster, microwave oven, and blender were all in puddles of melted plastic and metal components. Their refrigerator was tilted on it's side against the counter, the doors wide open, with all of it's contents spilling out onto the floor. The faucet was broken and a small fountain of water was shooting from it's base.

Beyond the kitchens destruction she could see into the living room and the den, from what she could see the kitchen was not the only room that had been raided. She didn't want to see any more, she was already beginning to feel sick to her stomach. She could see their muggle TV smashed on the floor in the living room. All of the furniture was torn apart and burnt, most of the shelving units along the walls had been smashed in places with all of their contents thrown to the floor. She could see papers and books strewn across the rest of the living room. The den, she noticed, was in the same state as the rest of the house that she had seen so far.

She thought she may vomit from how violated this all made her feel, she was shaking with shock. She couldn't imagine how the rest of the people in the room, the ones that had lived their whole lives in this house, felt. As she was thinking this, her thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley's sobs. She immediately turned to see what had happened; although what she had seen so far would have been enough. Mrs. Weasley was looking down as she slowly knelt to her knees on the kitchen floor, one hand was over her mouth as tears were streaming down her face, while the other hand was stretched outward and placed on something that no one could see over all of the scattered possessions that were blocking their view. Before she knew what she was doing her legs had started leading her slowly to Mrs. Weasley. She noticed that she was not alone in her curiosity, almost everyone had begun to shuffle slowly foreword out of uneasy curiosity, however they had only made it a few steps before Mr. Weasley had walked foreword as well making it to Mrs. Weasley's side first. Everyone including Hermione stopped moving as they saw his eyes mist over and then saw him reach for his wife and pull her from the floor. She immediately turned into him and continued to cry as he wrapped his arms around her. He turned to everyone and spoke, his voice was thick as he addressed his family.

"Ok, I know we were all expecting this so let's try to shake it off. We are strong, a strong family. Let's get this cleared up as quickly as possible, okay?"

No one said a word as he spoke his short pep-talk but all of them felt a newer sense of hope after listening to his words. The group turned almost in unison, and headed to their designated rooms without any further curiosity of what had upset Mrs. Weasley.

As Ginny led the way up the stairs to her room, Hermione turned to look back at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley just in time to see Mr. Weasley bend down and pick up two pieces of a clock... The clock that Mrs. Weasley used to keep track of her family. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks as ice flooded her veins. The clock had been split into two separate pieces, on one side were the faces of Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, Ginny, and Fleur all on the side that read "HOME"... On the other side of the split clock there was only one face, Fred's picture was stuck under the heading that read "DECEASED". It was a cruel and painful reminder of how Fred wouldn't be together with the rest of his family anymore, split down the middle from the people who loved him... Forever.

Hermione choked down a sob as she turned and bolted from the painful scene in front of her, and ran up the stairs to Ginny's room. She slowed down the closer she got to Ginny's room trying to listen for any signs of Ginny's emotional state. She didn't hear any noise coming from the room at all, slightly worried she pulled herself together from what she had witnessed just a few seconds prior, and turned the corner into Ginny's room. Hermione looked across the room panning left to right finally finding Ginny on the far right of the room behind the door. Ginny was sitting on her bed at the foot, her toes were pointed inward slightly, she had her elbows on her knees and her head was placed between her hands. Her long auburn hair was falling in thick sheets around her shoulders and arms.

Hermione stood in the doorway for a few minutes while she looked at the state of Ginny's room. It mimicked the rest of the rooms they had seen. All of it except for one section... Behind the door out of the sight of any one passing by her open door, Ginny sat upon her perfectly made bed that sat directly below her perfectly kept shelves. This, of course, struck Hermione as extremely strange. It gave her an odd sense of unease. Why were all of the other rooms completely torn apart and everything in them broken, burnt, or ripped to pieces... Yet Ginny's room looked as though someone had taken their time to not break anything, but still make it look as though it had been torn apart. Anyone glancing in wouldn't see the side of the room with the bed, since it was behind the door, they would assume that that corner of the room looked like the rest of the room. Maybe it was just her, but she got the feeling that whoever was in Ginny's room didn't want to do what they were sent to do. She knew she was being overly observant, and she doubted anyone else would have noticed the subtle difference in technique between destruction and deliberate mimicry of destruction. Anyone else except for maybe Ginny herself. Another person may have just assumed that her room was done either last and in a hurry, or that maybe the vandals had left in the middle of the job. But to Hermione it felt as though someone had deliberately placed her belongings gently across her floor in a messy hap hazard pattern, someone who cared either for other peoples possessions or, more likely, for Ginny herself. But who? She decided to leave it until tonight when they talked away from the family and the boys about Malfoy and his epiphany. She walked further into the room and went to sit next to Ginny. As she did Ginny looked up slightly by turning her head in her hands to face Hermione, who was now sitting beside her.

"Hey." Ginny said in a quiet monotone.

"Hi." Hermione responded quietly. "Gin, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault Hermione, besides..." Ginny sighed in hesitation. "I think I got off fairly easy in comparison." She finished as she took one hand and used it to 'show case' her belongings that were strung across the floor.

Hermione gave a half hearted laugh as she nodded. "So where should we start then?" She asked as she looked back up to Ginny.

Ginny stood up and looked around herself. "Well, let's hang all of the clothes first. Then we can work on the other things. Sound good?" She asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yup, sounds good to me." She said as she stood up and walked over to the piles of stuff littering the floor and began sorting through Ginny's belongings. They worked in silence through most of the clothes stopping occasionally to chat, or whenever Hermione had a question on where something was supposed to go.

Soon enough they had worked through all of Ginny's clothes, extra bedding and towels. Hermione had never realized how many clothes the girl actually had until she was sitting there sorting through them. They then moved on to sorting through Ginny's books, trinkets, jewelry, and papers. They made piles of each item in different sections of the room.

"Wow Gin, you have way more belongings than I thought you had." Hermione said as she picked up another book and set it in the correct pile. "I don't remember you having all of these papers and books." She grabbed another book and turned it over to look at it. "Where did you get them? They don't look like normal school materials." She said as she picked up a different book and examined it closer. She had never seen this book before, it was old and rather worn, in fact she hadn't seen any book like this one before. It was leather bound and the leather had been stamped with a very old looking ornate pattern, like one you might find on an old muggle bible. On the front were a few words that she did not recognize and also a few symbols across the bottom of the cover. But what caught her eye the most was a large ornate "Z" on the top right corner. Just as she went to open the book to see what it was, Ginny pulled it out of her hands and looked at the cover as though she were trying to remember something about it. Then she nonchalantly shrugged and acted as though she didn't quite remember the books origin, but Hermione got the feeling that she was hiding something.

"Humm... I think it's an old family book or something. I'm pretty sure it's a medical book though... Or something along those lines." She told Hermione as she walked back over to her pile, still holding the book in her hand.

"Why do you have an old medical book Gin?" Hermione asked as her curiosity was piqued from Ginny's shifty behavior. "You have a lot of old looking books and papers... Some of these are dark looking books too... What's all this for Ginny?" She asked a bit more forcefully. "Your not doing anything you shouldn't be, are you?" Hermione knew she was being nosy but Ginny had been acting funny since they first ran into her, and it was really beginning to worry her.

"Its not what your thinking, Hermione!" Ginny replied sharply, catching Hermione off guard.

"And exactly what is it you think I'm thinking?" Hermione shot back, a little irritated at Ginny's tone.

Ginny immediately began to back pedal as she realized Hermione wasn't assuming anything in particular about her books and papers, and was just showing concern. Thinking she may have given herself away she turned a slight shade of pink as she said "I... Well. I mean... I didn't mean that the way it sounded... I meant that they aren't for anything bad, really. It's just, what with the school being over run with the Carrows, we... I mean Neville and I, we wanted to learn healing spells." She sighed, and shrugged. "And sometimes we had to research old hexes and curses to find the medical counter spells... It's nothing really... It was just something important to us to learn... Just in case." She said as she walked over to the window and placed her palms on the sill as she leaned over the edge a bit.

Finally after a few moments of silence she turned and gestured to the papers with one outstretched hand and crossed the other arm over her stomach as she leaned her back against the window sill. "Those books and papers are the research and information Neville, Luna, and I collected, along with different books that we were able to find in our families libraries. And some books donated by other students that were on our side against the Carrows." After a few moments of silence Ginny took in a breath and continued.

"After winter break had started the three of us got together and began our research mission. We memorized everything we could so if they ever decided they were actually going to punish us, they wouldn't know we had done any practicing in order to help ourselves. I mean, we knew it was a possibility since they were known death eaters after all." She said with a laugh that didn't cary any humor with it.

Suddenly she looked down with a worried expression on her face. "Look... Can you just please not tell Harry or Ron about this?... Any of it... I can't have them knowing anything about this, or asking any questions. Harry feels bad enough I'm sure, he doesn't need this on top of his already clouded conscience." She pleaded as she looked at her feet. When no answer was given she finally looked up to see Hermione's warm amber eyes staring at her with such an intensity that it startled her.

"Thats it isn't it? That's why you've been so jumpy and emotional... Why didn't I see it before." Hermione quietly rambled on as she looked back to the books on the floor where she sat while she was thinking.

"Ginny... This research wasn't for a 'just in case' scenario... Was it?" Hermione finished in a whisper. Her eyes misted over as she stared at another book in the pile at her finger tips. She looked up from her place on the floor and straight into Ginny's glistening eyes. "Gin, what happened to you?" She asked with a thick voice that was barely above a whisper.

Ginny looked at her with a horrified look on her face. "Nothing... Nothing happened... Your... You... You don't know what you're saying." She finally managed to get out. "Please don't." Ginny said and put up a shaky hand to silence Hermione when she had started to open her mouth to speak again. "Please, I don't want to talk about it right now." Ginny told the older girl barely above a whisper. "Just please... Leave it alone." Ginny pleaded.

Hermione realized she was pushing Ginny to far. "Okay, it's alright Gin, I'm just worried... You know you can talk to me about anything... You do know that... Right?" She said as Ginny nodded in response with her eyes closed and one single tear threatening to betray her emotionless face. Sensing the red heads emotional state may turn into a melt down, Hermione quietly placed a silencing charm over the room. She very slowly got to her feet and walked over to Ginny.

"Gin?" She said quietly, only getting a stoic nod in return while her eyes were still closed tight, fighting back the inevitable. "Gin, can I have a hug... Please?" She asked, knowing full well that Ginny was the one who was actually in need of the hug. But she figured if she were the one to ask for a hug for herself, that Ginny wouldn't refuse... She was right.

Ginny moved fast as she flung her arms around Hermione seeking comfort. Hermione could feel the slight tremble of Ginny's torso as she fought to stifle her tears. She had finally figured out the base reason for Ginny's odd emotional roller coaster, she just didn't know the details behind it. She could feel Ginny's pain and her heart was breaking for her. Hermione held Ginny as she herself tried not to cry. As Ginny clung to her, Hermione moved all of Ginny's hair to one side as she whispered "It's ok Gin, no one can hear into this room, only me." That was all it took, twelve words and Ginny broke, Hermione was supporting most of Ginny's weight as she cried occasionally choking out broken apology after apology for her emotional display.

All Hermione could say was "it's ok, it's fine. I'm not going anywhere. Your ok. It's over now." After a few minutes of trying to calm her down, Ginny finally stopped sobbing but still clung to Hermione. Slowly, Hermione pulled back a bit from Ginny to look at her properly. Ginny sniffled a bit as she wiped her eyes and cheeks, then gave a hollow chuckle and said "Now my eyes are all red and puffy, hair's all messy..." She said as she looked up at Hermione with a slightly ashamed look on her face.

Hermione smiled at her and ran her thumbs across Ginny's cheeks to clear away her tear tracks. "It's not so bad actually, you could blame it on allergies after a while, you know after the red goes down a bit. As for the hair, I can fix that up now if you like?" Hermione offered. Ginny gave her a grateful smile and nodded appreciatively.

"Okay then." Hermione said as she smiled back. "Turn around then, and I'll get this all smooth and like silk again." She said as she grabbed Ginny's brush, and sat Ginny down on the bed. She ran the brush through Ginny's long hair a few times over. Then once all the tangles were out she cast a spell on Ginny's hair, like she always did to her own, to keep all the hair from getting fly-aways and frizzing. Once she was satisfied she stepped back. "There, all done, it's perfect." She said proudly as she surveyed her work, she loved how Ginny's hair felt, it was like a thick sheet of red silk.

"Thanks Hermione..." Ginny said. She didn't have to elaborate for Hermione to know that this 'thanks' wasn't for the hair, but instead for how she was always there for her.

"Any time Gin, any time at all." was all she said, and Ginny nodded with a small smile on her lips.

"Back to work then?" Hermione asked for a change of subject.

"Yes, I think so." Ginny said as she got up. The girls worked together to repair and replace all of Ginny's shelves and return her belongings back to their correct spots. Ginny grabbed all if her books and research papers and placed them into her trunk, then placed a locking charm on the trunk.

They stood in the center of the room as they looked around themselves. They had finished. It was all back to normal. Both of them smiled at one another knowing they were both thinking something like 'we make a pretty good team.'

Just as they were admiring their handy work they heard Mrs. Weasley call up the stairs to all of them.

"Ginny! Hermione! Boys! Dinner is ready, come on down now!" She called to everyone.

Hermione looked at Ginny's clock and was very surprised to see that six hours had already passed by.

"Oh my, has it really Bern six hours?!" she said aloud.

"Oh! I suppose it has, it doesn't seem like it's been so long." Ginny replied in a surprised tone.

"I would have thought maybe three hours had passed... Not six." Hermione said.

"Me too, hummm. Well, I suppose we had better go down." she said as age stood up and turned to look at Hermione. "Are my eyes ok now?" She asked a little worried.

"Yep, your eyes look fine, only a little red." She smiled at Ginny. "Looks like allergies to me." Ginny smiled back. "Ok, let's go down then."

As Hermione opened the door she saw a blur of bright red run past her vision followed by a much slower moving Harry. She smiled at him as he shrugged and gave her the 'you know him' look.

"So... How did Ron's room fair?" Hermione asked as Ginny walked down the stairs following behind her brother.

Harry let out a hard breath. "It wasn't pretty. Ron was really mad actually, his posters were shredded and almost everything in the room was torn apart or burnt. What about Ginny's room?" He asked as they both headed to dinner. Hermione had a small panic attack, she didn't want to tell Harry that Ginny's room wasn't torn to shreds incase he thought too much into it, but she didn't know what to say instead of the truth. Finally she settled on a partial truth, and hoped he wouldn't see through it.

"Everything was torn off the walks and thrown all over her floor... You know... Sane thing I suppose."

Harry nodded at her answer. "Yeah, this whole thing is just awful. Ron was really upset, I don't blame him really. Personally I'm just glad it's over... That we made it. I guess after all of the fighting, his room being torn to shreds was the last straw."

When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs Hermione couldn't believe her eyes, the kitchen that had been so disheveled and destroyed, was now clean and almost completely as she remembered it. As she was marveling over the clean up, she heard Harry mutter "I love magic." She smiled to herself and looked at the large wooden table with plates and platters of food stretched down it's center waiting for them to dig into.

"Wow... Mrs. Weasley, this all looks so delicious, how did you have time?" Hermione said as she looked at the table, then up to where Fleur and Mrs. Weasley were standing by the stove.

"Don't you worry now dear, just sit down and get some dinner. It didn't take much once we got past the broken glass and liquids." She said quite plainly. "Now come on, sit! Sit!" She said as she ushered them to the table.

"Okay everyone, tuck in." Mrs. Weasley said when everyone had settled at the table. The food tasted wonderful to Hermione, so comforting. Mrs. Weasley had always been a marvelous cook in her opinion. Soon enough everyone was laughing in spurts across the table as they chatted about different times that the family had all been together, as they recounted their memories of one another. Hermione couldn't help but feel at peace, this was what a family should be like, Loving, caring, comforting.

Without them even trying, Hermione could tell that they were beginning to help one another to heal. She sat back slightly as she observed their playful banter and sighed. It was still so fresh in her mind that she couldn't believe they had made it and were home, enjoying their first care free meal together. The first of what Hermione knew would be many to come.

Hermione turned as she heard a knock on the front door. The kitchen was silent for a few brief moments until Bill and Mr. Weasley got up. Bill had his wand at the ready.

"Who's there?" Mr. Weasley called out to the unknown person.

"Good evening Arthur, sorry for the interruption. I should have notified you first." Came Kingsley's voice through the door.

Mr. Weasley and Bill looked at one another for a moment before Bill shook his head slightly as if to say 'we better make sure.'

"Sorry Kingsley, old friend, but we've got to be sure." Mr. Weasley called.

"By all means Arthur, I'd expect nothing less to be honest." He replied with a slight chuckle.

"When I found out Molly was having a girl, what were we doing?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Hermione heard a very amused chuckle on the other side of the door. "Is Molly there with you? She may not be happy about it... You and I were joy riding in that... Enchanted car of yours over London. We headed straight home when we got her patronus because we were supposed to be building an addition onto the burrow for the child to be." He laughed, then said "Sorry Molly." Who gave Mr. Weasley a quick glare. Mr. Weasley sheepishly gave her a smile and then opened the door to reveal a likewise sheepish looking Kingsley.

"Oh, you two." She scolded mildly. "Come on, don't just stand there, come in and get a plate! Kids make room." She said as she waved her hands in their direction.

"No, Molly it's alright I don't mean to intrude. I just wanted to see how things were going. Make sure you didn't need anything." He replied.

"Nonsense! I won't hear another word! Now get a plate, sit down, have a visit, I insist!" She told him with one hand on her hip, and the other with a wood spoon pointing to the newly opened spot at the table. Kingsley went to object a second time but just as he opened his mouth to speak, Mrs. Weasley cocked her head and raised her eyebrows, successfully stopping him in mid-open and gaining a laugh from everyone. He gave her a small nod, then a smile and then headed over to the table as he was told.

After a few minutes everyone was chatting again, and Hermione noticed Harry was looking at her. She looked up at him and mouthed 'what?' as she proceeded to check her shirt for a possible mess he may have noticed and she hadn't. After a brief search she found nothing, and so, returned her gaze to Harry's face plastered with an amused smirk as he shook his head. This irritated Hermione a little, but even more so when he chuckled at her too. She glared at him for only a moment before he finally jerked his head towards Kingsley, then she knew what it was he was talking about immediately... They had a question to ask. She looked at him, now a bit nervous to ask in front of everyone, what if they thought she was crazy, or laughed at her. She mouthed

"now?" with a slightly concerned look on her face. Harry shrugged as if to say 'why not?' she sighed and mouthed "in a minute, okay?" again he shrugged and went back to talking to Ginny for a second before someone spoke up, having noticed their silent exchange.

"Hey, what are you two talking about over there?" Bill asked as he took another forkful of potatoes and popped them into his mouth. Hermione's mouth immediately went dry as her head snapped up to look into Harry's green eyes. Everyone at the table had stopped talking and were now staring intently at the two of them. Hermione didn't know what to say, or even where to begin with what she needed to say. Noticing her hesitation Ginny leaned over and whispered into Harry's ear for a moment, he nodded then looked at Ron who just shrugged and continued eating as if he didn't want any part in what was surely coming next. It seemed like hours had passed as Harry thought of what to say, but it had only been a few moments before he turned back to Hermione smiled.

"Nothing really, we were just discussing something we had heard yesterday." Harry said while panning his sight from Hermione's relieved eyes to Kingsley's curious ones. "And we were hoping to run it past the order and get their opinion on it... I was just saying to Hermione that later on, while most of the order is here, that we should ask... And get it out of the way you know?" he finished as he shrugged his shoulders.

Hermione sighed internally, Harry had always had a knack for making people feel open to listen and try to understand. Something he learned to do quite well over the last year and a half. Hermione had always been fairly decent at reasoning with people, but when ideas or information came out of Harry it seemed like more people wanted to hear him out, and now was just as she suspected it would be. Everyone had a quizzical look on their faces and seemed to be ready to absorb and process anything that Harry had to say.

"Well Harry, no time like the present... What's on your mind

son?" Arthur asked him in a fatherly tone.

"Yeah out with it kid, what's the question?" Bill said in a joking tone.

Kingsley was quietly watching the men talking from across the table and smirking a little at how much they seemed like one big family, instead of a family with guests. He turned to look at Harry as Bill spoke.

"Well, you see... Now, please listen to the whole story and keep an open mind okay?" Harry asked the table at whole, who all gave varying responses of yes. After he had gotten their word to keep an open mind he and Hermione retold their encounter with Malfoy, and to her surprise Harry kept his usual condescending comments to himself. She could tell that he really was doing his very best to retell the story in a completely unbiased way so that none of the people at the table would be swayed one way or the other. She was very grateful that he cared for her enough to do this, she knew it took a lot of restraint on his part. As they ended the story of their encounter with Malfoy, Hermione waited for them to laugh. She had, of course, not said a word about her and Malfoy's private conversation after Harry and Ron had walked away, but even so, she had an overwhelming feeling that everyone would think they were crazy or the like.

To her amazement, and to Ron's horror, Kingsley spoke first "It does make sense actually." Ron's head immediately snapped up, as Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in, while Harry just listened with a blank face. Seeing the look on most of the Weasley's faces, Kingsley decided to elaborate. "What I mean is, we knew many things, very important information before we were supposed to. We were well informed thanks to our inside sources. And... Well he really would have been as close to inside as we could have hoped for, it really would not surprise me if Mr. Malfoy had been one of those sources."

Ron just couldn't contain himself any longer. "But it's bloody Malfoy! He's a natural born liar! He's got to be making it all up! It just doesn't make sense fir him to have helped us! He tried to kill Dumbledore for Merlin's sake!" he exploded.

hermione sighed in exasperation. "Ron, just because we have hated him all through school doesn't mean he can't have had a life changing experience... And maybe, just maybe, done something he could be proud of for once." She snapped back.

Ginny smiled and said "Exactly! I think he was telling the truth... And like I said before,if it was my mum I'd have done whatever I could... And who knows, maybe since Snape did the same thing he felt more secure with his decision to help out side." She tried to reason.

Ron looked even more flustered than he did before once he realized that not only did Hermione and Kingsley think it was possible but Ginny and possibly even Harry did too.

Bill silently watched them, before he decided to interject. "Are you sure he was being sincere?" he directed to Hermione.

She thought it over for a few seconds, running the day over in her mind. The look on his face, the conviction and sincerity in his eyes said all she needed to know "Ye,s I'm certain he was... Look, you all know how much Malfoy and I have not gotten along, and even that's an understatement. But even I could see that he was being truthful, not lying." she said with certainty.

Bill listened to her intently, then looked between his father and Charlie before they all nodded to one another. Mr. Weasley then spoke to her and Harry. "Alright, let's just say we believe that he is telling the truth. What then?" he asked Kingsley.

Hermione didn't know how to answer his question, 'what then?' why was she so determined to prove that he wasn't lying? She couldn't even answer her own question, let alone his.

Mrs. Weasley finally decided to speak, saving Hermione the embarrassment of trying to explain herself.

"I'm not too fond of the boy either, but if what Hermione and Harry say is true..." she said in more of a questioning tone to Hermione, who soundlessly nodded. Mrs. Weasley nodded back with a knowing look. "Then we can't let all of the wizarding world go on hating the boy. Especially after seeing what it did to Severus. We may not like him very much, but if he did indeed switch sides, he made quite a sacrifice to do so. And should in turn get, at the very least, vindicated." she said matter-of-factly.

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing, her heart was pounding in her chest and ears. What she thought was going to be a catastrophe had turned out in her favor almost unanimously. They all admitted their dislike, sure, but they were all willing to look into it at the very least. She let out a deep breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding in. She looked up to Harry who was giving her a smile that said "it's okay" she gave him a weak smile in return.

Kingsley sighed and cleared his throat. "Alright, so let's put this to a vote before we continue any farther. There is no use talking out our options, especially if we don't all agree in a majority that this is worth our effort." He said to the table who nodded in understanding.

"Okay so all those in favor of pursuing this farther, please indicate so with a raise of the hand."

Hermione's hand was up immediately, followed very closely by Ginny's hand. Then came Charlie's hand, and Bill's shortly after along with his wife's hand. Mrs. Weasley was next with a warm smile to Hermione and Harry. Then Harry smiled at Hermione and put his hand up with Mr. Weasley.

The only four left with their hands down were Ron; of course, George, Percy, and Kingsley. Hermione looked curiously at Kingsley and he gave a weak smile and shrugged. "It has always taken more than just a story to convince me... While I feel that in this case he may well have been being truthful, I still need evidence to prove it... Something my mentor taught me early on... Constant vigilance." He smiled at the memory of Mad Eye Moody. "But, yes, I believe I do think it is worth looking into farther." and with that he held up his hand.

Looking around Hermione couldn't help but smile. She didn't know why she cared so much about vindicating Malfoy, but she had set in her mind what she wanted to do, and that was all she was focused on now. She looked at Kingsley and smiled. "Ok, so now, how do we get your proof? What would convince you, and everyone who doubts?" She questioned Kingsley in particular but was speaking to the group as well.

"Thats where thus may get more complicated I'm afraid." Kingsley sighed. "He and his mother are to stand trial for their crimes, up until now everyone at the ministry has need preparing every bit of evidence they have to bring down every Malfoy alive... So this is certainly going to have everyone up in arms... No one is going to want to listen to reason." He sat for a moment thinking of how they were going to get the evidence they needed while not looking like they were harboring any type of favoritism that seemed to appear suspiciously over night. He rubbed his temples as he sighed again.

"The only way this is going to work is if the Malfoy's are willing to be probed by a skilled Legilimens, then willingly produce memories in a pensive of the said events... Possibly even endure the use of veritaserum… At least then, to the ministry, we could pass off all of these actions as being overly cautious on our part in the hopes of catching them in a lie." he suggested. "But since they are not in custody for direct offenses, and are coming in on their own to defend themselves, they would have to agree to it and not know that we were trying to prove them innocent. If they knew what out intentions were, and it somehow got to the court then it would seem like we had tried to fix the outcome. Then once we get what we need, the whole court will have seen it too and would not be able to deny their innocence. I think that is the best we can hope for really." He said as he turned to Harry.

Harry nodded slowly as he thought the plan through. "Okay, so we get them to agree to Legilimens testing, Pensive review, and veritaserum without them realizing that these measures are to help them..." He turned to Hermione. "If he really was telling the truth, then he should jump on the chance to prove it... Let's just hope his Malfoy pride about not having to reveal his secrets doesn't get in the way of his chance to prove himself." She smiled at him. "Then what?" He asked Kingsley. "Do we publicly vindicate him... Announce it in the paper or something? I mean if he's proven innocent that is..." Harry questioned.

"Both, I should think." Kingsley mused, "If he did indeed help Dumbledore, the order, and yourself the he deserves to be vindicated publicly... I do have to say though... This is going to be a fight in it's self. I'm going to have to get the courts to agree to these measures as well... It may be very difficult if they think they already have enough evidence. They may not be willing to approve any of these measures, they might think it's too much of a waste of their time and money. I'll be going into the office tomorrow to request the changes, and if they approve them, then we can move foreword."

Everyone nodded except for Ron who just scowled at his food. Hermione felt a huge sense of relief, but also a new sense of worry. What if they didn't give them the chance to prove their story? She started to panic.

"Kingsley?" she asked "Is there anything we can do to get the court to agree to these measures, anything at all?" She knew she sounded desperate. But she didn't care. She was determined, now, to see this through.

"Im afraid that the best we can hope for is that they agree in hopes of catching the Malfoy's in a lie. That's how I'm going to present the idea to the court and hopefully they bite." He turned to Harry with a question on his mind. "Have you decided yet?... What your going to do this coming year, I mean" He asked then turned to Ron and Hermione. "And you as well... Any decisions?"

They both shrugged in unison and Harry said "We haven't had any time to think it over, or discuss it yet... But we will soon and you will have our answer, we promise." he said to Kingsley. Who nodded and smiled at the two. Hermione was extremely confused now, had she missed something? As she took a look around the table it became apparent that she was not the only one who seemed to be out of the loop. Everyone except Mr. Weasley and Bill, seemed to have an extremely confused look plastered on their faces as they stared between Harry, Ron, and Kingsley.

"What is he talking about Harry?" Ginny asked quietly as she turned to Harry with a confused and worried look. Everyone seemed to turn their full attention to Harry causing him to lose track of his thoughts.

"Harry and I, and Hermione as well... Sorry, we never got the chance to tell you Hermione, we were going to tonight..." He said quickly, when the look on her face told him she was a little irritated at not having been told sooner, before continuing. "we've all been offered auror positions or any law enforcement job we would like, see. And we can either start in a few months... Or, if we choose to finish out seventh year, we can start after that... But if we choose to start in a few months we can opt to test out. Which shouldn't be hard for us since most of the test is practical testing, and we have more experience in that than most people our age." He finished matter-of-factly.

There was a moment of silence as Ron's words sunk in and then all hell broke loose. Hermione couldn't figure out who was saying what over all of the commotion. From the looks on most of the boys faces, they were happy and excited to hear the news. However all of the girls looked worried and upset. Hermione being one of them. How could they consider not continuing their schooling and how could they not tell her sooner.

"Wait a minute! Quiet everyone!" Hermione tried to get all of their attention but her attempt was drown out by everyones commotion.

"Shut it!" Ginny roared over the crowd of people, earning almost complete silence by every person in the room. "What is it Hermione?" She asked as she turned to face the older girl.

"How could you have forgotten to tell me this? When did you two even find out?" She asked with a heated tone. Both boys looked rightfully ashamed at not having told her sooner.

"Well... see... We found out last night after we all went to bed. We got an owl from Kingsley and we haven't really seen either of you alone since then." Harry explained quickly, she nodded her head once as he finished. She knew that he was right, Ginny and herself had indeed not seen the boys for more than a few minutes since they had parted ways the previous night.

"Fine, when were you planning on letting us all know then?" Ginny shot back, which earned the boys a stern look from Mrs. Weasley, who seemed to want to know the answer to this question as well.

"Look, once we found out we wanted to talk it over with Hermione first because the offer extended to her as well, and once we did that we were going to talk with everyone." Ron said.

"Now, come on everyone, this isn't set in stone. Calm down." Mr. Weasley said. "You boys haven't even talked it over yet, have you?" He asked. Both boys shook their head 'no' in unison. "See, now, all of us need to just relax, this is a decision the three of them need to make for themselves." Mr. Weasley said as he gave Harry a knowing look.

Everyone settled down after Mr. Weasley spoke, almost as though he had the final say in the matter. Though Hermione could tell it was a very hard task for the two Weasley women to keep quiet. She knew that as soon as Ginny and Harry were alone, he was going to get the third degree, and she would be giving Ron the same treatment.

After the initial shock of their news, Hermione sat quietly listening to everyones chattering. As she finished her meal she contemplated her options over and over, making a check list of pros and cons as she went. She had one question to answer for herself, what did she want to do? She always figured that she would end up working at either the ministry doing some type of law oriented job, or she would be working at St. Mungos as a healer. She knew early on that she had a soft spot for figuring out problems and puzzles and bringing out the truth, as well as helping those in need. She already had set in her mind after their sixth year that she would never be able to finish her schooling, she had decided to forfeit her schooling to help win the war. She had never regretted or thought twice about her choice, but after the battle when professor McGonagal invited them back to finish their seventh year properly she couldn't believe her ears, she was so excited. Now, however she had her dream job staring her in the face just with in hands reach, or she could put off her dream for another year and finish her schooling. She had quite a lot of thinking to do indeed, yet another subject she would be adding to her and Ginny's discussions for later that night.

~*KAII*~


End file.
